General Information
| Other name(s): | Great River Bridge |
|---|---|
| Beginning of works: | 1989 |
| Completion: | 4 October 1993 |
| Status: | in use |
Project Type
| Structure: |
Two-span single-pylon cable-stayed bridge |
|---|---|
| Function / usage: |
Road bridge |
| Secondary structure(s): |
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Location
| Location: |
Burlington, Des Moines County, Iowa, USA Gulfport, Henderson County, Illinois, USA |
|---|---|
| Address: | U.S. Route 34 |
| Crosses: |
|
| Coordinates: | 40° 48' 41.41" N 91° 5' 39.93" W |
Technical Information
Dimensions
| main span | 201 m | |
| total length | 853 m | |
| pylon | pylon height | 114 m |
Excerpt from Wikipedia
The Great River Bridge is an asymmetrical, single tower cable-stayed bridge over the Mississippi River. It carries U.S. Route 34 from Burlington, Iowa to the town of Gulf Port, Illinois.
History
Construction began in 1989, but work on the main tower did not begin until April 1990. The main tower is 370 feet (113 m) in height from the top of the tower to the riverbed. During the Great Flood of 1993, construction continued despite record crests on the Mississippi below. The final cost of the bridge was $49 million, about 16 percent over budget.
The Great River Bridge replaced the MacArthur Bridge, an aging two-lane, cantilevered, steel toll bridge built in 1917. At the time, the bridge was in desperate need of repair, or replacement, as it swayed ominously when two semis crossed the bridge at the same time on the two lanes of traffic. After the bridge was dismantled, the engineers discovered that the supports weren't sunk into the bedrock far enough, causing undermining of the piers. The new bridge is five lanes wide (two westbound, three eastbound), with piers sunk over 90 feet into bedrock, and provides a safer crossing across the Mississippi River than the old bridge.
Events
In the early morning of May 1, 2008, five barges broke loose of their moorings, with two of those striking the eastern most pylon of the bridge on the Henderson County, Illinois side of the river. The bridge was closed while it could be inspected by the Iowa Department of Transportation for damage and repairs. A third barge continued downstream, striking the BNSF Railroad owned Burlington Rail Bridge. The highway bridge was reopened the following day.
On June 17, 2008, the bridge was closed due to flooding.
Every year on the second Saturday of May the Great River Bridge Race is run. The 6-mile (9.7 km) race starts at the Iowa on ramp and runs the first mile in Iowa including running up Snake Alley. It then runs across the bridge through Illinois on U.S. Route 34 and finishes on Front St. In front of the Port of Burlington.
Text imported from Wikipedia article "Great River Bridge" and modified on July 23, 2019 according to the CC-BY-SA 4.0 International license.
Participants
Relevant Web Sites
Relevant Publications
- (1994): Case Study of Burlington Cable‐Stayed Bridge. In: Journal of Construction Engineering and Management, v. 120, n. 3 (September 1994), pp. 649-666.
- (2019): Overlay Replacement Feasibility Study of the Burlington Cable Stayed Bridge. Presented at: IABSE Congress: The Evolving Metropolis, New York, NY, USA, 4-6 September 2019, pp. 1094-1099.
- (2008): Personal Involvement in early US Cable-Stayed Bridges. Presented at: 17th IABSE Congress: Creating and Renewing Urban Structures – Tall Buildings, Bridges and Infrastructure, Chicago, USA, 17-19 September 2008, pp. 27-34.
- (1994): Die Schrägkabelbrücke über den Mississippi bei Burlington, USA. In: Stahlbau, v. 63, n. 7 (July 1994), pp. 193-199.
- About this
data sheet - Structure-ID
20004184 - Published on:
05/07/2002 - Last updated on:
05/02/2016
