Parts of old 74 bridge to go ‘boom’

There will be explosives used to take down the old I-74 bridge, but we don’t know exactly when.

“The contractor’s plans are not yet finalized. There’s a lot of coordination taking place right now and I anticipate having more details in the coming months,” bridge spokeswoman Kristina Kuehling said by email Friday.

Helm (the bridge dismantling contractor) is continuing to make progress on demolition. All the concrete deck has been removed and they are now focused on steel removal, she said, with about 40% of the steel removed so far on the entire project.

It’s anticipated that the contractor will begin removing the suspension towers and cables in late spring/summer, Kuehling said.

Helm plans to use explosives on select locations of the bridge, including the suspension towers, main suspension cables, and select piers. The Iowa Department of Transportation anticipates that there will be brief disruptions to traffic on the new I-74 bridge, as well as to river traffic while explosives are used, Kuehling said.

“We’ll have more details about these brief traffic impacts in the coming months,” she said, noting landscaping contracts are anticipated to restart soon (this includes planting and decorative elements).

In September 2022, it was announced the old suspension bridge (built in 1935 and 1959) would be dismantled piece by piece, rather than explosion or implosion.

“Dismantling the majority of the bridge will have less impacts on river traffic, minimizes the amount of debris to remove from the river, and reduces impacts on the endangered mussels,” the bridge Facebook page said.

The Iowa DOT will be putting a landscaping project out to bid for the area between the Bettendorf railroad tracks and the levee, by early summer.

Bettendorf’s plans include completing the Urban Park, which is located underneath the new bridge and includes a walkable corridor entwined with decorative rock patterns that provide a pervious surface to help with water infiltration before that water reaches the Mississippi River. To view and download a video rendering of the future Urban Park, click HERE.

Pieces of the old bridge (including the owl that used to be on one of the towers) are now on display at the Rock Island County Historical Society in Moline. Another piece was given to the Putnam Museum in 2021. The old bridge is expected to be gone entirely by mid-2024.

The new $1.4-billion I-74 bridge project (which opened to full traffic Dec. 1, 2021) has won a number of awards:

• 2022 National Prize Bridge Award from the American Institute of Steel Construction and the National Steel Bridge Alliance
• 2022 America’s Transportation Award from the Mid America Association of State Transportation Officials
• 2022 Structural Engineering Excellence Award from the National Council of Structural Engineers Associations
• Selected as the #1 Bridge of 2022 by Roads & Bridges Magazine
• 2022 Excellence in Concrete Award by Iowa Ready Mixed Concrete Association (IRMCA) and American Concrete Institute (ACI) Iowa Chapter (concrete supplied by local company, Hahn Ready Mix)
• 2023 Lincoln’s Grand Conceptor Award – Design won the highest award of 2023 by American Council of Engineering Companies of Illinois

For updated information on the new bridge, visit its website HERE.