Built as a replacement to the original bridge, the new Kate Shelley High Bridge is an impressive structure with a modern twist on engineering.
While the bridge is more bland than its predecessor, it does have some interesting history. Some of the deck girders for the bridge were relocated from the Madrid High Bridge downstream.
These spans are set onto massive concrete towers. The bridge is five feet higher than the old bridge, and it does not contain a truss.
The bridge contains 26 main spans, set onto concrete piers. Some of the piers actually serve as towers, with a shorter deck girder span on top.
In addition, the bridge was built with prefabricated concrete girder approaches. These rest on typical pile piers.
If a severe derailment ever damaged this bridge, the old bridge would be reopened to traffic within hours.
Between these two bridges, this is one of the biggest landmarks in the State of Iowa.
For this reason, the author has ranked the bridge as being moderately significant, due to the landmark status.
However, the bridge is also modern, which reduces the significance of the bridge.
The photo above is an overview. The bridge can be accessed from Juneberry Road.
| Upstream | B&SV Des Moines River Bridge |
| Downstream | Kate Shelley High Bridge |