Black Hawk Bridge

Black Hawk Bridge
File:Lansing Iowa bridge-7.jpg
Coordinates
Carries	2 lanes of File:Circle sign 9.svgFile:WIS 82.svg Iowa 9 / WIS 82
Crosses	Upper Mississippi River
Locale	Lansing, Iowa and Crawford County, Wisconsin, River Mile 663.4
Other name	Lansing Bridge
Maintained by	Iowa Department of Transportation
ID number	NBI 000000000013520
Characteristics
Design	Cantilever through truss
Total length	1,653 feet (504 m)
Width	21 feet (6 m), 2 lanes
Longest span	653 feet (199 m)
Clearance below	68 feet (21 m)
History
Opened	June 17, 1931
Closed	October 20, 2025
Statistics
Daily traffic	2,357 (2003)
Toll	None
Location

The Black Hawk Bridge spanned the Mississippi River, joining the town of Lansing, in Allamakee County, Iowa, to rural Crawford County, Wisconsin. It was demolished December 19, 2025.

Named for Chief Black Hawk, it was popularly referred to as the "Lansing bridge". It carried Iowa Highway 9 and Wisconsin Highway 82. It was the northernmost Mississippi River bridge in Iowa.

This riveted cantilever through truss bridge had one of the more unusual designs of any Mississippi River bridge. Construction started in 1929 and was completed in 1931. The designer and chief engineer was Melvin B. Stone. The McClintic-Marshall Company of Chicago erected the trusses. The steel came from the Inland Steel Company.

The Wisconsin approach had a long causeway over Winneshiek bottoms (sloughs, ponds, and backwaters) before ramping up to the bridge itself. The main shipping channel is on the Iowa side. The Iowa approach was rather abrupt, going from a 25 miles per hour (40 km/h) city street straight up a steep ramp onto the bridge.

Originally a privately built and operated bridge owned by the Iowa-Wisconsin Bridge Company, it was closed between 1945 and 1957, due to damage from ice damming, and lacking funds to repair the bridge, the company went out of business. The two states acquired the bridge and repaired it.

Closure

The bridge has been subject to periodic closures in recent years. In August 2011 the bridge was briefly closed for repairs after a crack was found in a floor beam.

The Iowa Department of Transportation temporarily closed the Black Hawk Bridge on Highway 82 on February 25, 2024, citing structural integrity concerns following movement of two bridge piers. The department performed emergency repairs of the bridge, which was reopened to traffic on April 20, 2024. On May 18, 2025, the bridge was closed again due to a shifting pier, with a temporary passenger-only water taxi service beginning June 4, 2025. The bridge was re-opened June 9, 2025; but additional closes were expected related to construction of the new bridge. The old bridge permanently closed on October 20, 2025, to safely allow for continued construction of the new bridge and demolition of the old bridge; leaving no direct road crossing for about 2 years. A temporary car ferry service across the river began November 3, 2025. The bridge was ultimately imploded on December 19, 2025, with its large central superstructure dropped into the Mississippi River.

File:Black Hawk Bridge Iowa - Wisconsin.jpg

Old Black Hawk Bridge from Wisconsin to Iowa

File:Black Hawk Bridge road.jpg

The old Black Hawk Bridge road was narrow.

Replacement

See also: List of bridge types

The old bridge had a sufficiency rating of 39.9 percent, which mainly reflected its obsolete nature. The Iowa Department of Transportation began planning for a replacement bridge, with feasibility studies beginning in 2004. It was revealed during a meeting on June 15, 2021, that the replacement bridge's design would look extremely similar to the current bridge's design while either retaining the pier's design or adopting a newer wave design. A design similar to the original bridge was ultimately chosen; construction of the new bridge began in September 2023.

File:Lansing (Black Hawk Bridge) construction and closure.jpg

Lansing (Black Hawk Bridge) construction and temporary closure of the old bridge, February 27, 2024.

In popular culture

The old bridge was featured in a scene from the 1999 film The Straight Story, when Alvin Straight is depicted crossing the Mississippi River near the end of his 240-mile (386 km) journey.

See also

• List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Iowa
• List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Wisconsin

References

• Iowa Department of Transportation, retrieved July 28, 2007
• Black Hawk Bridge Superb site, with pictures and statistics, retrieved July 28, 2007
• NationalBridges.com, retrieved August 7, 2007
• Black Hawk Bridge at Structurae. Retrieved July 28, 2007.
• Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. IA-43, "Black Hawk Bridge, Spanning Mississippi River at State Highway 9, Lansing, Allamakee County, IA", 13 photos, 1 color transparency, 11 data pages, 1 photo caption page.
• Lansing Bridge Project - Iowa Department of Transportation.