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Black Hawk Bridge

Lansing Bridge

Black Hawk Bridge

Primary Photographer(s): Nathan Holth and Rick McOmber

Bridge Documented: June 29, 2009, August 9, 2013, and October 16, 2021

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Facility Carried / Feature Intersected
IA-9 and WI-82 (Ballou Street) Over Mississippi River
Location
Lansing: Allamakee County, Iowa and Crawford County, Wisconsin: United States
Structure Type
Metal Cantilever 22 Panel Multiple-Type-Connected Pennsylvania Through Truss, Fixed and Approach Spans: Metal 6 Panel Rivet-Connected Pratt Deck Truss, Fixed
Construction Date and Builder / Engineer
1931 By Builder/Contractor: McClintic-Marshall Company of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and Engineer/Design: Melvin B. Stone of Minneapolis, Minnesota
Rehabilitation Date
1955
Main Span Length
652.3 Feet (198.8 Meters)
Structure Length
1,630.7 Feet (497 Meters)
Roadway Width
21 Feet (6.4 Meters)
Spans
3 Main Span(s) and 6 Approach Span(s)
Inventory Number
13520

Historic Significance Rating (HSR)
View Information About HSR Ratings

Bridge Documentation

This bridge's future is at risk!

Bridge Status: This historic bridge is slated for replacement followed by demolition, with 2 year project letting in July 2023, construction in the fall of 2023 or spring 2024.

This bridge's song is:

Additional Note: This is one of the most unique historic bridges in the country. The key detail is the fact that the suspended span is only connected at the bottom with no connection (visual or structural) to the top chord of the suspended span. This arranagement makes the bridge unique and gives it a distrinctive appearance. It perfectly illustrates how a cantilever truss bridge works in a visual way that even non-engineers can understand. The media/DOT may attempt to claim that the proposed replacement bridge "replicates, mimics, or honors" this historic bridge. If such statements are made, be aware they are NOT true because the replacement bridge will NOT contain the key character-defining feature of this bridge which is the lack of top chord connection to the suspended span. As a Section 106 Consulting Party we tried to advocate for preservation, and failing that we expressed strong opposition to any public communications trying to claim that the replacement bridge replicates the historic bridge.

View Archived National Bridge Inventory Report - Has Additional Details and Evaluation

View Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) Documentation For This Bridge

HAER Data Pages, PDF

View Original Plan Sheets For This Bridge

View Historical Black Hawk Bridge Opening Day Booklet

View Historical Articles About This Bridge

This bridge is among the most unusual and significant large scale cantilever truss bridges in the country, on account of its excellent historic integrity, relatively old age, increasing rarity, and unusual design.  Located in one of the most beautiful and photogenic settings imaginable, with a small town on the Iowa side, and expansive flood plains on the Wisconsin side, all contained within a large and  impressive river valley. There are ample locations to view the bridge from numerous angles, including a truly spectacular and unique view of the bridge from the Mount Hosmer lookout in Lansing, this is a bridge that must be seen in person to be truly appreciated. The bridge has very a very impressive appearance, with well-defined cantilever towers which rise dramatically above the surrounding trusses. The bridge has a camber that is not curved, but is composed of an inclined deck that immediately ends between the cantilever towers at the center of the bridge. The transition is sharp enough that it acts almost like a speed bump, and helps to calm traffic speed on the bridge, increasing the safety of the structure.

Perhaps the bridge's most distinctive and unusual feature is that the central suspended span, which is a Pennsylvania through truss, is not connected to the cantilever arms at the top, and is only connected by the bottom chord and by vertical eye bar suspenders from the top chord. Viewing the bridge from elevation (side view) this unusual design makes the suspended span very easy to discern. The bridge is actually a good teaching tool for demonstrating how a cantilever truss bridge's suspended span is structurally independent from the cantilever arms, in other words, the suspended span it is a complete bridge on its own being held at the ends by the cantilever arms.

The significance of all surviving cantilever truss bridges has risen rapidly in recent years. This is due to the decimation of the nation's historic cantilever truss bridges by short-sighted owners who feel the only solution is to demolish a historic cantilever bridge and replace it with a mundane cable-stayed bridge with no heritage value or engineering significance. The Black Hawk Bridge is a beautiful historic monument that is one of the most defining landmarks and top attractions of the small town of Lansing, Iowa. In addition, the bridge retains excellent historic integrity, is a relatively old surviving large-scale highway cantilever bridge, and has a unique design. Its preservation, whether it continues to serve vehicular traffic or is bypassed by a new bridge and used for non-motorized traffic only, should be pursued at all costs.

The bridge was rehabilitated in 1955. In 2013, additional work took place including a repainting of the bridge. Some of the photos available on this website are from during the repainting.

Above: Historical photo showing bridge construction. Note that the suspended span is being erected via cantilever method, rather than prefabrication off-site and lifting into place.

Information and Findings From Iowa's Historic Bridge Inventory

Discussion of Bridge

"A reality! Finished!" The Book of the Black Hawk Bridge, enthused at the structure's dedication in 1931. "The Black Hawk Bridge, three quarters of a million dollars of steel and concrete, linking the states of Iowa and Wisconsin, running eastward from Lansing across the Winneshiek Bottoms to De Soto, is a reality. It is the first passenger bridge to join these two states, the result of more than a generation of dreaming and scheming, planning and promoting--and two years of actual construction." Planning for the bridge had begun in 1898 by Lansing businessmen J.P. Conway and Tom Bakeman. The two promoted the proposed structure for years as a boon to the community, eventually forming the Interstate Bridge Company in 1914 to secure a Congressional charter for the bridge. The charter, secured in 1916, was turned over to the Iowa-Wisconsin Bridge Company in late 1929. Under the direction of Des Moines financier John Thompson, the latter firm sold bridge bonds to finance construction, hired Minneapolis engineer Melvin B. Stone to design the bridge, and contracted with the McClintic-Marshall Company of Chicago to fabricate and erect the trusses. The bridge was christened the Black Hawk Bridge to honor famous Indian Chief Black Hawk.

The bridge was dedicated on June 17, 1929, with the governors of Iowa, Wisconsin and Minnesota present. Thebridge functioned as a toll structure until flooding washed out some of the approach spans over the Wisconsin bottoms in 1945. It stood unused for several years until the approaches were re-constructed and the bridge re-dedicated in May 1957. The Black Hawk Bridge now carries traffic as a free bridge, in essentially unaltered condition.

The importance of the Black Hawk Bridge to commerce and transportation in northeastern Iowa can hardly be understated. The only highway bridge over the Mississippi River in the region at the time of its completion, the Black Hawk Bridge is historically significant for its role in the development of northeast Iowa. Although its design and dimensions fit within the mainstream of bridge technology of the time, the structure is technologically significant as an uncommon, large-scale example of cantilevered truss design. Few such cantilevered trusses were erected in Iowa, those primarily over the Mississippi or Missouri Rivers, and even fewer remain in use today. The Black Hawk Bridge is one of only five such long-span, cantilevered trusses in Iowa. [adapted from Fraser and McWilliams 1992]

Bridge Considered Historic By Survey: Yes

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Photo Galleries and Videos: Black Hawk Bridge

 

View Photo Gallery

2021 Bridge Photo-Documentation

Original / Full Size Photos
A collection of overview and detail photos, with focus on the main spans. This gallery offers photos in the highest available resolution and file size in a touch-friendly popup viewer.
Alternatively, Browse Without Using Viewer

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View Photo Gallery

2021 Bridge Photo-Documentation

Mobile Optimized Photos
A collection of overview and detail photos, with focus on the main spans. This gallery features data-friendly, fast-loading photos in a touch-friendly popup viewer.
Alternatively, Browse Without Using Viewer

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View Photo Gallery

Pre-2021 Structure Overview

Original / Full Size Photos
A collection of overview photos that show the bridge as a whole and general areas of the bridge. This gallery offers photos in the highest available resolution and file size in a touch-friendly popup viewer.
Alternatively, Browse Without Using Viewer

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View Photo Gallery

Pre-2021 Structure Details

Original / Full Size Photos
A collection of detail photos that document the parts, construction, and condition of the bridge including deck truss spans. This gallery offers photos in the highest available resolution and file size in a touch-friendly popup viewer.
Alternatively, Browse Without Using Viewer

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View Photo Gallery

Pre-2021 Structure Overview

Mobile Optimized Photos
A collection of overview photos that show the bridge as a whole and general areas of the bridge. This gallery features data-friendly, fast-loading photos in a touch-friendly popup viewer.
Alternatively, Browse Without Using Viewer

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View Photo Gallery

Pre-2021 Structure Details

Mobile Optimized Photos
A collection of detail photos that document the parts, construction, and condition of the bridge including deck truss spans. This gallery features data-friendly, fast-loading photos in a touch-friendly popup viewer.
Alternatively, Browse Without Using Viewer

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View Video

CarCam: Westbound Crossing

Full Motion Video
Note: The downloadable high quality version of this video (available on the video page) is well worth the download since it offers excellent 1080 HD detail and is vastly more impressive than the compressed streaming video. Streaming video of the bridge. Also includes a higher quality downloadable video for greater clarity or offline viewing.

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Maps and Links: Black Hawk Bridge

Coordinates (Latitude, Longitude):

Search For Additional Bridge Listings:

Bridgehunter.com: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

Bridgehunter.com: View listed bridges within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of this bridge.

HistoricBridges.org Bridge Browser: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

HistoricBridges.org Bridge Browser: View listed bridges within 10 miles (16 kilometers) of this bridge.

2021 National Bridge Inventory: View listed bridges within 0.5 miles (0.8 kilometers) of this bridge.

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Flickr Gallery (Find Nearby Photos)

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USGS National Map (United States Only)

Historical USGS Topo Maps (United States Only)

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