The Brownville Bridge is a

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements, typically straight, may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

over the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

on U.S. Route 136 (US 136) from

Nemaha County, Nebraska Nemaha County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of Nebraska. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 7,074. Its county seat is Auburn, Nebraska, Auburn. In the Vehicle registration plates of Nebraska, Nebras ...

, to

Atchison County, Missouri Atchison County is the northwesternmost county in the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the county had a population of 5,305. Its county seat is Rock Port. It was originally known as Allen County when it was detached from Holt ...

, at

Brownville, Nebraska Brownville is a village in Nemaha County, Nebraska, United States. The population was 142 at the 2020 census. History Established in 1854 and incorporated in 1856, Brownville was the largest town in the Nebraska Territory, with a population ...

. It was built in 1939 by Atchison County, at a cost of $700,000 and was originally run as a toll bridge. The structure was designed by

HNTB HNTB Corporation is an American infrastructure design firm. Founded in 1914 in Kansas City, Missouri, HNTB began with the partnership made by Ernest Emmanuel Howard with the firm Waddell & Harrington, founded in 1907. One of the most trusted U. ...

Bethlehem Steel Co The Bethlehem Steel Corporation was an American steelmaking company headquartered in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. Until its closure in 2003, it was one of the world's largest steel-producing and shipbuilding companies. At the height of its success ...

. built the superstructure, while C.F. Lytle Co. built the substructure, and C.W. Atkinson Paving Co. completed the approaches. It has since been converted from a toll bridge to become a free crossing maintained by the

Missouri Department of Transportation The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC). MoDOT ...

. The bridge is extremely narrow, with no shoulders and only one 8-foot (2.4-m) lane in each direction and a total deck width of 22.6 ft (6.9 m). A cantilevered Warren through truss, the bridge's longest span is 419.8 ft (128 m). The total length is 1,903.3 ft (580 m). The bridge underwent extensive repairs in 2009–10. The deck was replaced, along with pier and steel structure repair. It was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1993. The bridge was closed to all traffic for 216 days from March 2019 to October 2019 as a result of the

2019 Midwestern U.S. floods The Midwestern United States experienced major floods in the spring of 2019, primarily along the Missouri River and its tributaries in Nebraska, Missouri, South Dakota, Iowa, and Kansas. The Mississippi River also saw flooding, although startin ...

' damage to the approaches.

References

External links

Visit Nemaha County
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Truss bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Atchison County, Missouri Buildings and structures in Nemaha County, Nebraska Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Nebraska U.S. Route 136 Bridges completed in 1939 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Missouri Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Bridges over the Missouri River Former toll bridges in Missouri Former toll bridges in Nebraska National Register of Historic Places in Atchison County, Missouri National Register of Historic Places in Nemaha County, Nebraska Steel bridges in the United States Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States {{UShighway-stub

See also

References

External links