The Mormon Bridge is a bridge composed of two

cantilevers A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...

that crosses 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

Pottawattamie County, Iowa Pottawattamie County () is a county located in the U.S. state of Iowa. At the 2020 census, the population was 93,667, making it the tenth-most populous county in Iowa. The county takes its name from the Potawatomi Native American tribe. The cou ...

with the

Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...

neighborhood of

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 ...

via Interstate 680 (Iowa-Nebraska). The bridge is officially called the Mormon Pioneer Memorial Bridge due to its location on the historic

Mormon Trail The Mormon Trail is the route from Illinois to Utah on which Mormon pioneers (members of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints) traveled from 1846 to 1869. Today, the Mormon Trail is a part of the United States National Trails Syst ...

, which passed nearby.

History

The earliest consistent crossing of the Missouri River at the current bridge's location dates back to 1846, when the Mormons operated a ferry at this location as a component of the Mormon Trail. Ferries continued to be operated sporadically at this location over the course of the next decade, however, the section of the Missouri was considered ideal for a bridge due to the riverbed being rock. According to the program from the opening ceremonies, the first attempt to bridge the Missouri was made in 1856. This attempt, by the Florence Bridge Company, obtained Congressional approval, but was not completed due to funding constraints. In 1872, the site was considered by Union Pacific prior to their construction of the

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 ...

and in 1885, construction actually began on a Chicago, St. Paul, Minneapolis, and Omaha Railway bridge before being abandoned. Attempts to build a bridge were also made in 1922 and 1936, however, it was not until the 1950s that a bridge was finally completed. Previous attempts had required a specific franchise from the United States Congress to cross a

navigable waterway A waterway is any navigable body of water. Broad distinctions are useful to avoid ambiguity, and disambiguation will be of varying importance depending on the nuance of the equivalent word in other ways. A first distinction is necessary betw ...

. In 1946, Congress passed the General Bridges Act, which allowed for "construction, maintenance, and operation of bridges and approaches thereto over the navigable waters of the United States" by public bodies and repealed provisions of the

Rivers and Harbors Act of 1899 The Rivers and Harbors Appropriation Act of 1899 is the oldest federal environmental law in the United States. The Act makes it a misdemeanor to discharge refuse matter of any kind into the navigable waters, or tributaries thereof, of the Unite ...

. This allowed the State of Nebraska to pass legislation creating the North Omaha Bridge Commission and put the wheels in motion for the successful establishment of a permanent river crossing. The first bridge was dedicated on June 1, 1953, following a groundbreaking in May 1951. It connected

Nebraska Highway 36 Nebraska Highway 36 is a highway in Nebraska. Its western terminus is southwest of U.S. Highway 275 near Fremont, and its eastern terminus is at U.S. Highway 75 in Omaha. Route description Nebraska Highway 36 begins in far northwestern Do ...

with unsigned Iowa Highway 988. It was originally a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

operated by the North Omaha Bridge Commission in order to pay off the $3.45 million in bonds issued to finance construction.

Spencer W. Kimball Spencer Woolley Kimball (March 28, 1895 – November 5, 1985) was an American religious leader who was the twelfth president of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church). The grandson of early Latter-day Saint apostle Heber ...

, President of

the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints, informally known as the LDS Church or Mormon Church, is a Nontrinitarianism, nontrinitarian Restorationism, restorationist Christianity, Christian Christian denomination, denomination and the ...

(LDS Church), was the last to pay the toll on April 21, 1979, when the second bridge to the north of the original bridge was added, and it became part of the

Interstate Highway System The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...

. In 2018, the original bridge underwent an $11 million refurbishment that involved lead paint remediation, repairs to the bridge deck, and a new asphalt driving surface.

References

* * *

External links

"A History of the Mormon Bridge in North Omaha"
by Adam Fletcher Sasse for NorthOmahaHistory.com

UNL page

{{Florence North Omaha, Nebraska Truss bridges in the United States Bridges in Omaha, Nebraska Road bridges in Nebraska Bridges in Pottawattamie County, Iowa Landmarks in North Omaha, Nebraska Bridges over the Missouri River Bridges completed in 1952 Bridges completed in 1979 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Latter Day Saint movement in Iowa Latter Day Saint movement in Nebraska Road bridges in Iowa Former toll bridges in Iowa Former toll bridges in Nebraska Interstate 80 Cantilever bridges in the United States Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States

History

See also

References

External links