The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system on the North American continent, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it flows generally south for 2,320 miles (3,730 km) to the Mississippi River Delta in the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains all or parts of 32 U.S. states and two Canadian provinces between the Rocky and Appalachian mountains. The main stem is entirely within the United States; the total drainage basin is 1,151,000 sq mi (2,980,000 km2), of which only about one percent is in Canada. The Mississippi ranks as the fifteenth-largest river by discharge in the world. The river either borders or passes through the states of Minnesota, Wisconsin, Iowa, Illinois, Missouri, Kentucky, Tennessee, Arkansas, Mississippi, and Louisiana.
Scouting in Iowa has a long history, from the 1910s to the present day, serving thousands of youth in programs that suit the environment in which they live.
Iowa City is a city in Johnson County, Iowa, United States. It is the home of the University of Iowa and county seat of Johnson County, at the center of the Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area. The U.S. Census Bureau estimated the city's population at 75,130 in 2019, making it the state's fifth-largest city. The metropolitan area, which encompasses Johnson and Washington counties, has a population of over 171,000. The Iowa City Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) is also a part of a Combined Statistical Area (CSA) with the Cedar Rapids MSA. This CSA plus two additional counties are known as the Iowa City-Cedar Rapids (ICR) region which collectively has a population of nearly 500,000.
Cedar Rapids is the second-largest city in Iowa and is the county seat of Linn County. The city lies on both banks of the Cedar River, 20 miles (32 km) north of Iowa City and 100 miles (160 km) northeast of Des Moines, the state's capital and largest city. It is a part of the Iowa City/Cedar Rapids Region of Eastern Iowa which includes Linn, Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Jones, Johnson, and Washington counties.
The Government Bridge or Arsenal Bridge spans the Mississippi River, connecting Rock Island, Illinois and Davenport, Iowa. It is located near Upper Mississippi Mile Marker 483, adjacent to the Mississippi River Lock and Dam No. 15. The current structure is the fourth at this location, and includes a swing section to accommodate traffic navigating the locks. The double-rail track above the road level is unusual for a bridge.
The Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, Pennsylvania was a major 19th-century industrial producer of iron and steel. Founded in 1852, it had the nation's largest steel foundry in the 1870s, and was renamed the Cambria Steel Company in 1898. The company used many innovations in the steelmaking process, including those of William Kelly and Henry Bessemer. The company was acquired in 1923 by the Bethlehem Steel Company. The company's historic facilities, extending some 12 miles (19 km) along the Conemaugh and Little Conemaugh Rivers, are a National Historic Landmark District.
Cutler–Donahoe Bridge is a 79-foot-long (24 m) covered bridge in Madison County, Iowa. It was built in 1870 by Eli Cox. It originally crossed the North River near Bevington, Iowa. In 1979, the bridge was moved to its current location at the entrance to the Winterset City Park.
The Plattsmouth Bridge is a truss bridge over the Missouri River connecting Cass County, Nebraska, and Mills County, Iowa at Plattsmouth, Nebraska. Until 2014, it carried U.S. Highway 34 across the river.
Holliwell Bridge is a wooden covered bridge in Madison County, Iowa. It was built over the Middle River in 1880 by Benton Jones.
The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Passenger and Freight Complex is a nationally recognized historic district located in Fort Madison, Iowa, United States. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1992. At the time of its nomination it contained three resources, all of which are contributing buildings. The buildings were constructed over a 24-year time period, and reflect the styles that were popular when they were built. The facility currently houses a local history museum, and renovations are underway to convert a portion of it back to a passenger train depot.
The Iowa flood of 2008 was a hydrological event involving most of the rivers in eastern Iowa beginning around June 8, 2008 and ending about July 1. Flooding continued on the Upper Mississippi River in the southeastern portion of the state for several more days. The phrase "Iowa's Katrina" was often heard.
Sutliff is an unincorporated community in Cedar Township, Johnson County, Iowa, United States, just south of Lisbon. The community was founded at the location of Sutliff's ferry. The ferry was operated from 1838 or 1840 onward by Allen C. Sutliff (1796–1873), the elder brother of the Ohio Supreme Court Judge Milton Sutliff (1806–1878). Sutliff, later sold the ferry service to Jim McLellan, whose nickname of "Butts" also tagged the community with the name Buttsville. The community is known for its bridge, listed on the National Register of Historic Places, which was badly damaged during the Iowa Flood of 2008. Baxa's Sutliff Store & Tavern is the main public business. The Sutliff Store has been sitting on the banks of the Cedar River next to the Historic Sutliff Bridge since 1899. The Sutliff Bridge was reconstructed through FEMA funding approved by the Johnson County Board of Supervisors by a 3–2 vote. The reconstruction was supervised by VJ Engineering and construction was completed by Iowa Bridge and Culvert of Washington, Iowa. A ribbon cutting ceremony was held in October 2012 to open the bridge to the public again. It had been closed for four years following the devastation of the 2008 flood.
The Sutliff Bridge is a bridge over the Cedar River at Sutliff, a Johnson County community near Lisbon, Iowa, United States. A Parker truss bridge, it was built in 1897 and 1898 at a cost of approximately $12,000. J. R. Sheely was the engineer for the original Sutliff Bridge. After a modern replacement was built over the Cedar in 1983, the bridge was slated for destruction, but it was ultimately saved, and on May 15, 1998, it was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Although the bridge remained a celebrated location for locals and for visitors from across Iowa, including a 5k foot race beloved as the “worst road race in America", it succumbed to massive floods in the second week of June 2008: while the river normally flowed many feet below the bottom of the bridge, the floods topped the bridge's deck, and one of the bridge's spans was washed away on June 13 as the surrounding countryside was inundated with vast amounts of water. It is estimated that restoring the bridge will cost $1.7 million. Most of this money would come from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA), with the rest coming from donations and local governments; both FEMA and the Johnson County Board of Supervisors have agreed in principle to repair the bridge. The bridge reconstruction was supervised by VJ Engineering of Coralville, Iowa, and construction was completed by Iowa Bridge and Culvert of Washington, Iowa. In October 2012 a ribbon-cutting ceremony was held, opening the bridge to public use for the first time in four years.
Bridge L-158 is a disused railroad bridge over Muscoot Reservoir near Goldens Bridge, New York, United States. Built to carry New York Central Railroad traffic over Rondout Creek near Kingston, it was moved to its current location in 1904.
The Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Northern Railway (BCR&N) was a railroad that operated in the United States from 1876 to 1903. It was formed to take over the operations of the bankrupt Burlington, Cedar Rapids and Minnesota Railway, which was, in turn, the result of merging several predecessor lines, the construction of which began in 1869. The corporate headquarters were in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, and it had operations in Iowa and in Minnesota. It was succeeded by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railway.
The Benton City – Kiona Bridge is a steel box girder and cable-stayed bridge carrying two lanes of Washington State Route 225 over the Yakima River in Benton City, Benton County, Washington. The current span was opened to traffic on July 4, 1957 and measures 400-foot-long (121.9 m) by 26-foot (7.8 m) wide. Two bridges had previously connected the cities of Benton City and Kiona before and were located 300 feet (91 m) downstream. The first bridge was open by 1901, and the immediate predecessor bridge was closed and torn down in 1964. The bridge is owned and maintained by the Washington State Department of Transportation, and was added to the Washington Heritage Register on January 25, 2002.
Benton Street Bridge was a historically important bridge designed by Edward L. Ashton. It crossed the Iowa River in Iowa City. In 1989 it was demolished and replaced with a modern highway bridge. A historical marker nearby describes the old bridge.
The First Avenue Bridge is a historic structure located in downtown Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United States. It carries U.S. Route 151 for 697 feet (212 m) over the Cedar River. The original six-span concrete arch structure was completed in 1920 for $420,000. It was designed by Marsh Engineering Company and built by Koss Construction Co., both of Des Moines. Consulting engineer Ned L. Ashton of Iowa City designed the 1960s remodel. He had all of the concrete work above the original arches torn out and the bridge rebuilt as an open-spandrel structure. The rebuild also included a wider deck to accommodate increased traffic and aluminum railings. While the bridge's original structural integrity has been compromised, this is the first notable concrete spandrel arch reconstruction in Iowa and possibly in the country. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.
The Jefferson Street Viaduct is an historic structure located in Ottumwa, Iowa, United States. The riveted Warren deck truss bridge was completed in 1936. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998 as a part of the Highway Bridges of Iowa MPS.
The Nishnabotna River Bridge is located southwest of Manilla, Iowa, United States. It carries traffic on 310th Street over the Nishnabotna River. Steel was in short supply during World War II as a part of the war effort. Many bridges built across the state were built in this era with timber, especially small-scale bridges. Heavy flooding washed out 27 bridges and culverts in Crawford County in May 1945. The county board of supervisors used emergency funds to build new bridges. They bought several steel superstructures from the Des Moines Steel Company to replace the wash-out spans. The bowstring arch-truss structures appear to have been designed by H. Gene McKeown, a civil engineer from Council Bluffs. This bridge is one several similar structures built in the county, and one of five that still remain. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1999.
