About: Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge

The Fred Schwengel Memorial Bridge is a 4-lane steel girder bridge that carries Interstate 80 across the Mississippi River between LeClaire, Iowa and Rapids City, Illinois. The bridge is named for Fred Schwengel, a former U.S. Representative from Davenport, Iowa and one of the driving forces behind the Interstate Highway Act. The structure was designed by the Iowa State Highway Commission, and was built by the Industrial Construction Company of Minneapolis (contractor), Gould Construction Company of Davenport, and Roy Ryan & Sons of Evanston, Indiana who was responsible for the substructure. The bridge opened on October 27, 1966, and is maintained by the Illinois Department of Transportation. It underwent a major rehabilitation project in 1996.