Year constructed: 1936-1937
Alternate name: Des Moines River Bridge
Bridge type: Rigid-Connected Cantilever Through Truss
National Register of Historic Places status: Eligible
Length: 763 feet
Width: 21.8 feet
Spans: 3
FHWA: 603980
Jurisdiction: Lee County
Location: 180 Avenue (Old Iowa 27) over Des Moines River, 2.3 miles southwest of Vincennes, Section 4, T65N-R6W (Des Moines Township)
Details
The St. Francisville Bridge carries Iowa Route 394 and the Missouri Supplemental Route B over the Des Moines River, between Lee County, Iowa and Clark County, Missouri. A three-span, rigid-connected Warren through truss cantilevered over the river, the imposing crossing is supported by a concrete substructure with subtle Art Moderne detailing. Designed by the esteemed engineering firm of Sverdrup and Parcel, the bridge was built by F.W. Whitehead, an otherwise obscure contractor. Construction efforts were organized by the Wayland Special Road District No. 1 in Clark County, and funding was provided in part through the Federal Emergency Administration of the Public Works, under Project No. 3395-R. Since its completion in June 1937, the St. Francisville Bridge has functioned as a toll bridge, and is now Iowa's only such crossing still in non-governmental hands.
Located at one of Iowa's most remote interstate crossings, the St. Francisville Bridge is one of the state's few remaining toll bridges. In this it represents a nationwide trend toward toll bridge construction in the 1920s and 1930s. Toll bridges were built at major crossings throughout the country during this time by private companies, small corporations or local citizens groups, to fill the void created by state government inaction. Multiple-span structures such as the Abraham Lincoln Bridge in Blair were built as toll structures and later opened to free traffic once their funding bonds had been retired. The St. Francisville Bridge, on the other hand, is the only such structure still in private hands and still operating as a toll bridge. The bridge is technologically distinguished as a relatively uncommon example of cantilevered truss construction. The cantilevered through truss was a signature design of St. Louis-based Sverdrup and Parcel, which engineered several major spans in the Midwest. The cantilevered Warren truss configuration is uncommon for a bridge of the scale of St. Francisville, however, more often found on the larger structures over the Missouri and Mississippi rivers. A well-preserved interstate crossings, the St. Francisville Bridge is an important highway-related resource [adapted from Crow-Dolby and Fraser 1992].