Western Railroad Discussion > Upper Mississippi crossings all open ?

Are there any current obstacles to travel between Keokuk, IA and say LaCrosse, WI in terms of bridge or road closures/construction etc ?

I assume you are talking about highway crossings. The bridge between Savanna IL and Sabula Iowa was closed earlier this summer, but it shows having one lane open on the Iowa DOT road site. That's the only item on Iowa's DOT site.

Stephen

they're painting the bridge and replacing the decking. Traffic
is one lane regulated by traffic lights. You have to make a
choice here: The busier BNSF, or the more eclectic ICE.

Nick Tharalson,
Marion, IA

rfdatalink Wrote:
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> I assume you are talking about highway crossings.
> The bridge between Savanna IL and Sabula Iowa was
> closed earlier this summer, but it shows having
> one lane open on the Iowa DOT road site. That's
> the only item on Iowa's DOT site.
>
> Stephen

A few weeks ago, the entire bridge was closed to all traffic. They had removed all the decking and were replacing the steel cross-sections. Earlier before that, it was just down to one lane. The local news reported that the bridge would be completely closed for a month, but I don't know if its open yet or not.

Erik

And the nearest alternates for crossing river are US 30 at Fulton, IL/Clinton, IA south of Savanna and US 20 at E. Dubuque, IL/Dubuque, IA. At least, you can follow BNSF between Savanna and Fulton using IL84 and for a little bit north of Savanna. If you are on the Iowa side you can follow the ICE between Green Island and Bellevue on US 52

Are they actually paving that bridge west out of Savanna, or is it going to remain an open metal grate floor? I was up there this summer camping at the Mississippi Palisades Park in IL, and it was fantastic. Great camping, great railfanning, and great scenery.

- Jeff

bnsfsd70 Asked:
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"Are they actually paving that bridge west out of Savanna, or is it going to remain an open metal grate floor?"

It appears they are replacing the steel grating. Adding pavement would probably add too much dead load for the structure. I agree that is a cool area, especially in the fall.

If you know where to look on the Ilinois DOT website, you can find plans and other details for all projects that make it to letting (released to contractors for bids). I got lucky and guessed the right letting date where I found the following summary:

Contract No. 64D58 Carroll IL-Jackson IA Counties District 2
Section 6000M-1
FAP Route 17 (US 52/IL 64)

This project consists of repairing the Mississippi River Bridge (SN 008-6000) carrying U.S. Route 52/Illinois Route 64 over
the Mississippi River and the Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway at Savanna; includes 395 sq yds furnished
riprap; 76 removal of existing bearings; 67 cu yds concrete superstructure; 16,619 sq ft open steel floor; cleaning and
painting steel bridge; 9,980 lbs reinforcement bars, epoxy coated; 76 furnishing and installing fabric bearings; 1,989 sq ft
fiber reinforced protection; 221 sq yds acrylic coating; 5,900 ft paint pavement marking line; 326 sq ft structural repair of
concrete; 4 jacking and cribbing; jacking existing Superstructure; railroad protective liability insurance; mobilization; traffic control and protection.