County of bridge: Lee County
Location of bridge: US-136, across Mississippi River from Keokuk, IA to Hamilton, IL
Bridge Type: Steel Girder Concrete Deck
Length: 3,341 Feet Overall
Width: 64 Feet, 4 Lanes
Date Built: Opened November 1985
"Auto travel in and around Keokuk was enhanced by several
notable improvements in the latter half of the 20th Century.
First, a new 2-lane western bypass of Highway 61 opened to
traffic in 1959. This influenced the later establishment of
Kindustry Park at the city’s far west end. Then in 1985, the 4-
lane Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge was completed, built high enough
for river traffic to pass comfortably underneath. The US 136
bridge across the Des Moines River was also replaced during this
time.
There are a total of 16 road bridges across the Mississippi River which connect to Iowa on the west side
(13 from Illinois, and 3 from Wisconsin). Of these 7 are located in the much larger urban areas of the
Quad Cities and Dubuque. Of the 9 that remain, the Highway 136 bridge at Keokuk showed one of the
highest traffic volumes in 2015, with an average of 11,000 vehicles crossing it each day. Burlington and
Clinton just barely exceeded this, at 11,300 and 11,400, respectively.
"When trucks and buses are excluded, however, Keokuk
actually had the highest number of passenger vehicles
per day, out of these 9 bridges (with a total of 10,350 per
day). In comparison, the Burlington bridge carried 9,850
passenger vehicles per day. Commuter and shopping
traffic from Hamilton, Warsaw, and Nauvoo is likely a
major contributor to the high volume." ~ My Keokuk - Comprehensive Plan
"The new US-136 Keokuk-Hamilton Bridge over the Mississippi River opened in late 1985. It is a very run of the mill highway bridge, and would be totally forgettable if not for a very graceful curve on the Iowa end of the crossing. While the new bridge is far more convenient and much more practical than the old swing bridge (which still stands just upstream), locals point out that you can hardly see the river from the new bridge due to the tall solid railings, while the view of the river was great from the old bridge since you were able to look through the structure." ~ John A. Weeks III
This is the NEW bridge. The OLD bridge, sometimes called the Keokuk Railway Bridge, is separate listings, and is a railway bridge now. This new one, with all the statistics, is identified on BridgeHunter