South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge

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The current South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge from the south on the Nebraska side New South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge.JPG
The current South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge from the south on the Nebraska side

The South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge carries U.S. Route 275 over the Missouri River connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iowa.

Contents

was a continuous warren through truss bridge

Original bridge

South Omaha Bridge
South-omaha-bridge.jpg
The old, now-demolished bridge, photographed in 2006
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LocationUS 275.svgElongated circle 92.svgN-92.svg US 275  / Iowa 92  / N-92, Council Bluffs, Iowa / Omaha, Nebraska
Coordinates 41°12′46.64″N95°55′56.87″W / 41.2129556°N 95.9324639°W / 41.2129556; -95.9324639
Built1935 [1]
ArchitectAsh, Howard, Needles, & Tammen; Kansas City Bridge Co.
MPS Highway Bridges in Nebraska MPS
NRHP reference No. 92000742 [2]
Significant dates
Added to NRHPJune 29, 1992
Removed from NRHPJuly 14, 2011 [3]

The old bridge was 4,378 feet (1,334 m) long and provided a clear roadway width of only 22 feet 6 inches (6.86 m).Omaha floated a $2 million bond issue for the bridge in 1931. However, when the bonds did not sell, the Omaha Bridge Commission was formed to secure financing from the Public Works Administration. The initial design by the Kansas City architects Ash, Howard, Needles and Tammen called for the bridge to have seven spans. However, when the War Department announced plans to reroute the river channel, the design was changed to two 525-foot (160 m), continuously supported, Warren through spans and a series of Warren deck truss approach spans.

It was built by the Kansas City Bridge Company opening on January 18, 1936. It is 22.2 feet (6.8 m) wide and 2,126 feet (648 m) long. The piers were initially on dry land, since the river had not been rerouted. Tolls on the bridge were discontinued on September 25, 1947.

The original bridge's demolition in progress South Omaha Bridge.jpg
The original bridge's demolition in progress

The bridge provided a much-needed direct route across the Missouri River to the Omaha Stockyards for livestock delivery trucks. Before the South Omaha Bridge was built trucks had to cross the Douglas Street Bridge and drive through downtown Omaha to reach the packinghouse district.

It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NHRP) in 1992. In 1995, it was renamed from the South Omaha Bridge to the Veterans Memorial Bridge. In November 2006 Nebraska placed a 5-ton vehicle limit on the bridge. On June 11, 2008, an additional height restriction requiring vehicles to be under 8 feet (2.4 m) was imposed. [4]

On September 8, 2009, at 9 am CDT, the bridge closed so that the new bridge's construction could continue. [5] The original bridge was completely demolished by March 2010 and removed from the NRHP in 2011.

Current bridge

The new bridge, a four-lane girder bridge, opened May 28, 2010. It provides for four 12-foot-wide thru lanes (3.7 m) and a 4-foot-wide raised median (1.2 m) with 10-foot-wide shoulders (3.0 m) and a 10-foot-wide bike trail (3.0 m). The new bridge is 4,300 feet (1,300 m) long and 87 feet 8 inches (26.72 m) wide.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge". Structurae.
  2. ↑ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places . National Park Service. January 23, 2007.
  3. ↑ National Park Service, "Weekly list of actions taken on properties: 7/11/11 through 7/15/11". Retrieved 2013-05-15.
  4. ↑ "Height limit imposed on Veterans Bridge". Omaha World-Herald. June 7, 2007.
  5. ↑ "Memorial Bridge's final day coming". Omaha World-Herald. August 26, 2009.
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