Historic Bridges of the U.S. | Benton Street Bridge

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Photos

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View Showing North Elevation Of Bridge, Looking South [Ryan}

Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

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View Showing South Elevation Of Bridge, Looking North. The Rock Island Line Railroad Bridge Can Be Seen In The Background To The North, With The Burlington Street Bridge In The Distance [Ryan]

Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

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3/4 View Of Bridge From The East Bank Of The Iowa River, Looking Northwest [Ryan]

Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

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3/4 View Of Bridge From The West Bank Of The Iowa River, Looking Northeast [Harms]

Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

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3/4 View Of Bridge From The West Bank Of The Iowa River, Looking Southwest. Piers From The Old Benton Street Bridge Can Be Seen In The Water To The Left Of The Bridge [Harms]

Photographs were taken by Robert A. Ryan, Bruce A. Harms and Alan L. Wieskamp, April 1989, for HAER

View photos at Library of Congress

Facts

Overview: Lost Deck plate girder bridge over Iowa River on Benton Street in Iowa City
Location: Iowa City, Johnson County, Iowa
Status: Replaced by new bridge
History: Built 1949; Demolished 1989; Replaced 1990
Design: "Crossing the Iowa River in the south-central section of Iowa City, the Benton Street Bridge is an all-welded, continuous, five-span, deck, plate-girder highway bridge. Although all-welded bridges appeared in the United States as early as the 1920s, welding was not widely advocated for new bridge construction until immediately after World War II, when a number of state highway departments began preparing all-welded, deck, plate-girder plans. Designed in 1947 and erected in 1949, the Benton Street Bridge introduced all-welded bridge construction to the State of Iowa, and was nationally recognized as one of the most notable examples of the new genre. An early champion of welding, the bridge's designer, Edward (Ned) L. Ashton, had previously engineered several major Mississippi River crossings, and would subsequently be responsible for the world's first welded aluminum highway bridge, completed in Des Moines, Iowa in 1958. Ashton has justifiably been called "the most distinguished bridge engineer in the history of Iowa."
Jeffrey A. Hess and Robert Hybben, October, 1989
`
Dimensions: Total length: 592 ft.
Deck width: 33 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude: +41.65278, -91.54167 (decimal degrees)
41°39'10" N, 91°32'30" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/621431/4612252 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Iowa City West
Inventory number: BH 37391 (Bridgehunter.com ID)