{{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox bridge | bridge_name = Norbert F. Beckey Bridge | image = Muscatine-ia-bridge.jpg | caption = | official_name = | also_known_as = Beckey Bridge, High Bridge | carries = {{Jct|state=IA|IA|92|IL|92}} | crosses = Mississippi River | locale = Muscatine, Iowa and Illinois, U.S. River Mile 455.90 | maint = Iowa Department of Transportation | id = NBI 000000000038201 | design = Steel girder with single truss through deck | mainspan = | length = {{convert|3018|ft|abbr=on}} | width = {{convert|32|ft|abbr=on}}; 2 lanes | clearance = | below = 500 Feet Navigable channel | traffic = 4,150<ref name=QCTimes>{{cite web | title = Bridges: Iowa, Illinois order safety inspections| publisher =Quad City Times| url =https://www.qctimes.com/articles/2007/08/02/news/local/doc46b2b2d1e0291186322522.txt| date = | access-date =2007-12-19 }}</ref> | open = {{start date and age|December 2, 1972}} | closed = | toll = | map_cue = | map_image = | map_text = | map_width = | coordinates = {{Coord|41|25|21|N|91|02|01|W|region:US_type:landmark}} }}

The '''Norbert F. Beckey Bridge''' carries Iowa Highway 92 and Illinois Route 92 across the Mississippi River between Muscatine, Iowa and Rock Island County, Illinois, United States.

==History== Muscatine High Bridge (1891-1972) collapsed twice in its 65-year history. The wooden bridge was originally built in 1891.<ref name=":0">{{Cite news|url=https://muscatinejournal.com/news/local/spanning-the-decades-the-norbert-f-beckey-bridge-has-brought/article_e411e06f-55c2-5bf1-8c81-bef752315c64.html|title=Spanning the decades: The Norbert F. Beckey bridge has brought 2 states together for over 40 years|last=Liegois|first=Jason|work=Muscatine Journal|access-date=2017-09-25|language=en}}</ref> The $150,000 construction cost was provided by private funds who charged a toll for crossing the bridge.

In 1899, the bridge inexplicably collapsed. A crew of men and a team of horses pulling a load of logs heading from Illinois to Iowa fell with the bridge down 40 feet into the frigid waters of the Mississippi.<ref name="johnweeks.com">{{Cite web|url=https://www.johnweeks.com/river_mississippi/pagesB/umissB09.html|title=Norbert F. Beckey Bridge, Muscatine, IA|website=www.johnweeks.com|access-date=2017-09-25}}</ref> It is not clear from historical records if there were any survivors.

The second collapse occurred around 1 a.m. on June 1, 1956 after a 22-year-old Muscatine man, Duane Allen Chelf, crashed his vehicle into the bridge at high speed in his efforts to elude police. The damage caused a support truss failure and collapse.<ref name=":0" />

"[Duane Allen Chelf] hit a wooden bridge railing, knocking it loose and then smashed into a girder, forcing his car to land on its side. Traffic was stopped from both directions and a wrecker came to remove the car. As traffic began to move again about 2:25 a.m., the second span from the Illinois side of the bridge gave way and fell into the water below. The scene fell to total blackness in the dead of the night because the span collapse severed the bridge lighting. At the sight, rescuers initially could not figure out what had happened to the truck because it could not be seen." The High Bridge was repaired but was severely weight restricted for the rest of is life and closed with the opening of the new bridge.

The '''Norbert F. Beckey Bridge''' replaced the Muscatine High Bridge (1891-1972). Construction on the bridge was completed in December 1972. A pillar from the old High Bridge still stands at Riverside Park in Muscatine.

In 1956 the newly established Muscatine Bridge Commission was able to purchase the High Bridge for just over $880,000.<ref name="johnweeks.com"/>

Muscatine Bridge Commission member, Norbert Beckey (1921–81), worked tirelessly to ensure that a new, safer bridge could be constructed to replace the wooden High Bridge.<ref name=":1">{{Cite news|url=https://makecreate.wordpress.com/2010/06/22/its-only-a-bridge-but/|title=It's only a bridge … but|date=2010-06-22|work=Mbkelly's Blog|access-date=2017-09-25|language=en-US}}</ref>

The new bridge was built a mile upstream from its predecessor, and the first construct in Iowa under the Iowa Interstate Bridge Act.<ref name=":1" />

The new bridge, which cost $5.2 million to construct, was opened on December 8, 1972. It was rededicated and named after Beckey on September 15, 1980. Beckey (1921-1981) was the last Chairman of the MBC.

In 2012, 43 light-emitting diode (LED) fixtures built by Musco Sports Lighting were attached to the bridge.<ref name=":2">{{Cite news|url=https://www.ecmweb.com/design/iowa-bridge-spans-gap-between-infrastructure-and-art|title=Iowa Bridge Spans the Gap Between Infrastructure and Art|date=2008-11-01|work=Electrical Construction & Maintenance (EC&M) Magazine|access-date=2017-09-25}}</ref> The system is believed to be the first of its kind to be installed on a bridge over the Mississippi river. The computer controlled lights can generate 16.7 million color combinations. Muscatine Power & Water maintains the fixtures and manages the light shows.<ref name=":2" />

==Gallery== <gallery> Image:Henry Sunrise Muscatine.JPG|Sunrise over the Mississippi River Image:Muscatine-ia-bridge 2.jpg </gallery>

==See also== * List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

==References== {{Reflist}}

==External links== * [https://highwayexplorer.com/il_Gallery.php?id=1560&section=10921&terminus=Western+Terminus Views of the Beckey Bridge] {{commons category|Norbert F. Beckey Bridge|position=left}}

{{Crossings navbox |structure = Crossings |place = Mississippi River |bridge = Norbert F. Beckey Bridge |bridge signs = 20px 20px |upstream = I-280 Bridge |upstream signs = 25px |downstream = Keithsburg Rail Bridge |downstream signs = ''Minneapolis and St. Louis Railway'' }}

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Category:Bridges over the Mississippi River Category:Truss bridges in the United States Category:Road bridges in Illinois Category:Road bridges in Iowa Category:Bridges in Muscatine County, Iowa Category:Bridges in Rock Island County, Illinois Category:Bridges completed in 1972 Category:Great River Road Category:Steel bridges in the United States Category:Girder bridges in the United States Category:Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States