The Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge was a Whipple through

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 ...

that was the first road bridge to cross 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 ...

connecting

Omaha, Nebraska Omaha ( ) is the List of cities in Nebraska, most populous city in the U.S. state of Nebraska. It is located in the Midwestern United States along the Missouri River, about north of the mouth of the Platte River. The nation's List of United S ...

and

Council Bluffs, Iowa Council Bluffs is a city in and the county seat of Pottawattamie County, Iowa, Pottawattamie County, Iowa, United States. The population was 62,799 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the state's List of cities in Iowa, te ...

. It was replaced in 1966 by the Interstate 480

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

History

Originally called the Douglas Street Bridge, the bridge was built by the Omaha and Council Bluffs Street Railway Company in 1888 at a cost of $500,000. It was designed to handle

streetcar A tram (also known as a streetcar or trolley in Canada and the United States) is an urban rail transit in which vehicles, whether individual railcars or multiple-unit trains, run on tramway tracks on urban public streets; some include s ...

s and replaced a ferry service that had opened in 1854. It was originally built as a single bridge. Due to increased demand, they built a twin sister bridge next to the existing one. It was the

Lincoln Highway The Lincoln Highway is one of the first transcontinental highways in the United States and one of the first highways designed expressly for automobiles. Conceived in 1912 by Indiana entrepreneur Carl G. Fisher, and formally dedicated Octob ...

bridge from 1913 to 1930. (Notice the L for Lincoln Highway in the picture.) It was then the Highway 30 bridge, then Highway 30A, then Highway 30 S until its destruction.

Tolls

It was a toll bridge. As automobiles became more popular, there were resentments about the tolls. In 1895, a group of businessmen formed the "

Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben Foundation is a 501(c)(3) civic and philanthropic organization in Omaha, Nebraska. History The Knights of Ak-Sar-Ben was established in 1895 by the Omaha Commercial Club, the predecessor to the Greater Omaha Chamber of C ...

" ("Nebraska" spelled backward). In 1938, they sold bonds to finance the purchase of the bridge for $2,350,000. They continued to charge tolls until 1947, at which point the bonds were paid off and the structure, along with the

South Omaha Bridge The South Omaha Veterans Memorial Bridge carries U.S. Route 275 over the Missouri River connecting Omaha, Nebraska with Council Bluffs, Iowa. Original bridge The old bridge was a continuous Warren through-truss bridge that was long and provid ...

, became free bridges. The hated toll booths were paraded through Omaha before a crowd of 35,000 observers to celebrate Free Bridge Day on September 24, 1947. The estimated traffic on the bridge doubled the following year.

Replacement and removal

It was replaced in November 1966 with an unnamed I-480 girder bridge (I-480 was to go on and be named the "

Gerald R. Ford Gerald Rudolph Ford Jr. (born Leslie Lynch King Jr.; July 14, 1913December 26, 2006) was the 38th president of the United States, serving from 1974 to 1977. A member of the Republican Party (United States), Republican Party, Ford assumed the p ...

Freeway" after the native son President). Attempts were made to salvage the bridge as a pedestrian walkway, but it was demolished in 1968 although the east pier remains in the river just south of the interstate on the Council Bluffs side.

U.S. Route 6 U.S. Route 6 (US 6) or U.S. Highway 6 (US 6), also called the Grand Army of the Republic Highway, honoring the American Civil War veterans association, is a main route of the United States Numbered Highway System. While it ...

overlaps the interstate to cross the river.

References

External links

"Douglas Street Bridge"

Omaha Public Library Omaha Public Library is the public library system of the city of Omaha, Nebraska. A library association was founded in 1857, but the library board was not appointed until 1877. In 1895, the library became one of the first six in the nation to c ...

. {{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Ak-Sar-Ben Bridge , bridge signs = , upstream = Interstate 480 bridge , upstream signs = , downstream =

Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge The Union Pacific Missouri River Bridge is a rail truss bridge across the Missouri River between Council Bluffs, Iowa, and Omaha, Nebraska. History When the first railroad bridge on the site opened on March 27, 1872, it connected the First tra ...

, downstream signs = ''Union Pacific Railroad'' Bridges in Omaha, Nebraska Road bridges in Nebraska Buildings and structures in Council Bluffs, Iowa Bridges over the Missouri River Bridges completed in 1888 Demolished buildings and structures in Omaha, Nebraska Demolished bridges in the United States Bridges in Pottawattamie County, Iowa Road bridges in Iowa Former toll bridges in Iowa Former toll bridges in Nebraska Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights Buildings and structures demolished in 1968 Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States 1888 establishments in Iowa 1888 establishments in Nebraska 1968 disestablishments in Iowa 1968 disestablishments in Nebraska

History

Tolls

Replacement and removal

See also

References

External links