{"id":9734,"date":"2018-03-08T10:00:28","date_gmt":"2018-03-08T16:00:28","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/?p=9734"},"modified":"2018-03-05T21:55:15","modified_gmt":"2018-03-06T03:55:15","slug":"boater-helps-sabula-after-bridge-closure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/2018\/03\/boater-helps-sabula-after-bridge-closure\/","title":{"rendered":"Boater helps Sabula after bridge closure"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"IF\"September 27, 2015:<\/strong> Mississippi River Overflow Bridge entering Sabula on US 52\/IA 64.<\/em><\/p>\n

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<\/a> 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.<\/p>\n

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

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.<\/p>\n