Mississippi River Bridge at Dubuque, Iowa

A number of unique and interesting features have been incorporated in the Julien Dubuque Bridge, opened on August 31, 1943, for highway traffic across the Mississippi River between Dubuque, Iowa, and East Dubuque, Ill. Not only is the 845-ft main channel span the second longest clear span across the Mississippi River, but the 1,537-ft three-span continuous truss of which it forms the central span is the longest of its type in the world. There are only two similar structures in North America-the Saint Lawrence River Bridge west of Montreal, Que., Canada, and the Meramec River Bridge south of St. Louis, Mo., both of which have much shorter arch spans (400 ft and 264 ft, respectively).