Historic Bridges of the U.S. | Fort Madison Bridge

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Photos

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Swing Span from Northwest

This bridge is a major river span and had, at the time of its construction, the longest and heaviest electrified swing span on the Mississippi River. The bridge superstructure was built by American Bridge Company, one of the largest bridge companies in American history.

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Long Shot From East

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Long Shot From Northwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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West Approach Spans, From Northwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Swing Span From Northwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Swing Span From Northwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Railroad Approach From West

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Barrel View At Railroad Level, From West

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Middle Of Swing Span, From Southwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Detail Of Drive Gears, From Southwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Detail Of Drive Gears, From Southwest

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Detail Of Drive Gears, From West

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Connections At Top Of Swing Span, From East

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Looking East Along Top Of Truss

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Control Booth Interior, From West

Photo by Joe Elliott, Summer 1995, for HAER

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Map

Vicinity Map

Vicinity map

Map links:

Facts

Overview: Toll double-decker through truss swing bridge over the Mississippi River on IA 2/IL 9/BNSF Railroad at Fort Madison
Status: Open to traffic
History: Built 1927
Builders: - American Bridge Co. of New York
- Union Bridge & Construction Co.
Design: Swing Baltimore through truss
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 525.3 ft.
Total length: 3,580.2 ft.
Deck width: 21.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.5 ft.
Recognition: Posted to the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude: +40.62925, -91.29887 (decimal degrees)
40°37'45" N, 91°17'56" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/643869/4498992 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Fort Madison
Inventory numbers: NRHP 99001035 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
IA 33280 (Iowa bridge number)
IL 034-9902 (Illinois bridge number)
BH 13818 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 12/2006): Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 36.2 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2006): 3,220

Update Log

September 10, 2008: New photos from J.R. Manning
May 1, 2008: Updated by David B. Haun: Corrected Other Location

Sources

HAER IA-62 - Fort Madison Bridge
David B. Haun - dbhaun [at] gmail [dot] com
J.R. Manning - thekitchenguy [at] sbcglobal [dot] net

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Comments

Fort Madison Bridge

Posted September 3, 2007, by Robert Morawitz

Here are some views of the BNSF swing bridge at Fort Madison, Iowa showing most of the overall length, a shot looking from Iowa towards Illinois of the roadway and superstructure and a couple of shots in the open position. This is the largest double deck road/rail swing bridge in North America.