Government Bridge

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Coordinates: 41 ° 31 ′ 9 ″  N , 90 ° 34 ′ 1 ″  W.

Government Bridge
Government Bridge
use Vehicle and rail transport
Crossing of Mississippi
place Davenport, Iowa and Rock Island, Illinois
construction Swing bridge
overall length 490 m
width 8 m
vehicles per day 16,800
opening 1896
location
Government Bridge, Iowa
Government Bridge

The Government Bridge is a swing bridge over the Mississippi River and connects rock Iceland in Illinois with Davenport in Iowa . The bridge overlooks a dam and a lock, Lock and Dam No. 15 called. The structure has two lanes for car traffic and a double-track railway line . Depending on their position, either ship traffic through the lock or vehicle traffic on the bridge is enabled. The current construction is the fourth at this point.

history

Animation of the bridge

The first bridge at this location was built around 1850, but 450 meters upstream of the current construction. It was the first structure over the Mississippi and thus played an important role in the American Civil War and in the establishment of the First Transcontinental Railroad . The bridge was part of the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad . The ferry owners on the Mississippi rejected the bridge, more out of concern about the loss of their ferry monopoly than about restricted navigation through the river. The building was opened on April 22nd, 1856.

In the years that followed, the first structure was quickly replaced by a wooden and later a steel bridge. However, the steel bridge was built elsewhere and, in contrast to the previous bridges, had two levels of travel. Rail traffic used the upper level, vehicle traffic the lower level. The old bridge and the connected railway line were abandoned. The current structure, built in 1896, is almost the same as the previous bridge, only the previously single-track line was extended to two tracks .

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