The Keithsburg Bridge was a vertical lift bridge that carried a single railroad track across the Mississippi River between Louisa County, Iowa and Keithsburg, Illinois. The bridge was constructed for the Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway in 1909 and traffic across the bridge was discontinued in 1971 by then owner Chicago and North Western, who had purchased the M&StL in 1960. After the line was abandoned, the vertical lift was locked in the up position for several years until the lift portion was accidentally destroyed by fireworks and the ensuing fire on June 21, 1981. The 220-foot (67 m) vertical lift section fell into the river blocking barge traffic on the main channel of the Mississippi River for more than a week until it was removed by the US Army Corps of Engineers. The USGS aerial