Construction has started on a new I-74 bridge connecting the Quad Cities region across the Mississippi.
AUGUST 15 2017
Modjeski and Masters announced that construction has started on a new I-74 bridge connecting the Quad Cities region across the Mississippi. The dual-arch steel structures will replace the existing Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. Industrial Steel Construction, Inc. (an AISC member and certified fabricator) is the steel fabricator for the project.
The Departments of Transportation for Iowa and Illinois partnered on the $1 billion-plus corridor improvement project in order to alleviate traffic congestion and improve safety between the bi-state communities of Moline, Ill., and Davenport, Iowa. Having recently completed final design services for the new bridge and select approach structures as a subconsultant to Alfred Benesch & Company, Modjeski and Masters will continue to provide consultation services to the Iowa DOT, Illinois DOT, Benesch and Lunda Construction Company, the project’s general contractor, during the construction process. The new crossing will feature dual basket-handle arch bridges with main channel spans of 800 ft. The bridge supports six design lanes in each direction, including an outboard bicycle and pedestrian path.
“This significant milestone marks the start of construction for the new bridge,” said Todd McMeans, senior vice president and project manager for Modjeski and Masters. “We are excited to continue working alongside Alfred Benesch & Company to help provide the community an innovative new bridge to help relieve increasing traffic demands, improve safety and support the growing Quad Cities region.”
Planning for the bridge has been underway for more than two decades, following a transportation study that revealed ever-increasing traffic demands were outgrowing the current Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge. The new bridge is scheduled for completion in 2020, and the existing Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge will be removed the following year.
Modjeski and Masters is intimately familiar with the project site, having designed the original Iowa-Illinois Memorial Bridge, which opened in 1935, and a twin structure, which opened in 1959.
For more information about this project, visit www.modjeski.com/projects/detail.aspx?I-74-Mississippi.