Iowa Highway Ends (etc.)

First, from the Illinois DOT, the implosion of the Savanna-Sabula bridge Friday:

Second, from the Iowa DOT last year, a video rendering of the construction process for the replacement overflow bridge that was closed Feb. 26:

The 1932 Savanna-Sabula bridge is to be imploded somewhere around the time this blog post goes live, according to a press release from the Illinois DOT. With the closing of access to the new bridge nearly two weeks ago because of replacement of a different bridge, there won’t be any need to hold up traffic across the river, just a short delay on IL 84.

September 27, 2015: Mississippi River Overflow Bridge entering Sabula on US 52/IA 64.

The new Sabula-Savanna bridge over the Mississippi River got about three and a half months of an opening run. A nearby bridge on the Iowa side, for Mississippi River overflow, was closed at the end of February because of a “construction issue”. With the nearest crossing at Clinton, it’s going to feel like a long wait until construction on a new overflow bridge finishes around Memorial Day.

But there is help available. KWWL says an 88-year-old is offering free crossings on his pontoon boat. You can’t take your car, but you can get across in 20 minutes.

After finding a picture for this blog post, it struck me: Is this the last overhead truss bridge that remained on an active state-maintained highway? I’m referring to this specific design, I think it’s a Pratt truss, that was common for pre-Depression bridges all across Iowa. (IA 9 at Lansing, obviously, is a truss, but that’s a special case.) It would require some deep digging into the bridge database (the one I have is from 2012 and it’s a bear to open), but it’s certainly one of very few.

The Waterloo City Council last month overwhelmingly rejected following in Cedar Falls’ footsteps, opposing use of roundabouts on University Avenue, the Courier reports.

The road, which hasn’t been US 218 for more than two decades now, has deteriorated. The DOT paid the city $28 million, which will be used to reconstruct the street, reducing it from six lanes to four. The middle section will be worked on first, followed by west and east sections, according to the story.

University Avenue remains a major arterial for the Waterl00-Cedar Falls area, but it’s not what it used to be, with the Kmart closing last year and the Hy-Vee closing by the end of this month.

This looks pretty cool: Through May, the Moline Public Library will offer a “VR experience” of the old and new I-74 Mississippi River bridges. (Story: WQAD) The library’s promotion of the “unique, immersive experience” made possible by collaboration between the Iowa DOT and Iowa State University’s Institute for Transportation also goes below the waterline, offering a look at the wildlife and ecosystem of the river.

The old bridge view cuts off at the ends of the bridges themselves, so you can’t see how the alignments will integrate. However, it’s a great tool for preservation of what those old bridges looked like after they’re demolished.

The Moline library is on 41st Street north; from Iowa, it looks like the best way is to exit at Avenue of the Cities, then go east, then south.

Also of note for I-74: The “first very, very large concrete pour” for a concrete pedestal — nearly 1000 cubic yards — was made Feb. 15.

Fifty-five years after a railroad underpass opened to save US 63 from an at-grade intersection, the process is going to be reversed.

The Iowa DOT says US 63 will close Monday from US 218 to Airline Highway (official) and Franklin to Newell/Conger streets (actual) for a project that won’t wrap up until Thanksgiving 2019. This will make all north-south ventures through the Waterloo area not via US 218 bothersome, since the SPUI at IA 58 and Viking Road is being built at the same time!*

An all-new 63 will be built OVER the railroad. The underpass that opened in late 1963** needed pumps to keep floodwaters out. In 2015, a bird shorted out an electrical transformer powering the pumps, and in 2017, the transformer went down again.

*Meanwhile, it’s not as bad as it could be for Denver: Its football opponents the next two years will all be west and north, but there will be headaches getting to Waterloo Columbus and La Porte City for NICL events.

**”Plan Formal Opening of Highway 63,” Waterloo Courier, 10/27/63