Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge
| Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge | |
|---|---|
A view of the bridge from Cleveland Park, Dubuque, Iowa.
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| Coordinates | 42°30′56″N 90°38′08″W / 42.51556°N 90.63556°WCoordinates: 42°30′56″N 90°38′08″W / 42.51556°N 90.63556°W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of   US 61 / US 151
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| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | Dubuque, Iowa, with Grant County, Wisconsin |
| Other name(s) | City Island Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Tied arch bridge |
| Total length | 2,951 feet (899 m) |
| Longest span | 670 feet (204 m) |
| Clearance below | 65 feet (20 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | August 21, 1982 |
The Dubuque–Wisconsin Bridge is a steel tied arch bridge connecting Dubuque, Iowa, with still largely rural Grant County, Wisconsin. It is an automobile bridge that traverses the Mississippi River. It is one of two automobile bridges in the Dubuque area, the other being the Julien Dubuque Bridge, which is located about three miles (5 km) south.
The bridge is a four lane, limited access bridge and is part of the US Highway 61/151 route. This bridge replaced the older Eagle Point Bridge that previously served as the connection between Dubuque and Wisconsin.
In the late 1970s and the early 1980s, city officials became convinced that the Eagle Point Bridge was no longer adequate for the city's needs. They determined that a four lane bridge would be needed for the increasing traffic that was anticipated.
Several names for the bridge were considered for the new bridge. Included among the names suggested was one that honored the pioneer priest Samuel Charles Mazzuchelli.
Construction was delayed when a Native American burial site was found on part of the proposed Wisconsin approach. A Winnebago medicine man was brought in to bless the site so the remains could be moved.
When the Dubuque-Wisconsin Bridge opened in 1981, it ended on an island in the river called City Island, formerly known as Ham's Island (as Mathias Ham once owned the land). From City Island, a new bridge was constructed over the Peosta Channel of the Mississippi River, along an alignment that connected with East 16th Street. City Island has since been named Chaplain Schmitt Memorial Island in honor of Father Aloysius Schmitt, who was killed in the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941.
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