116 3rd St SE
Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Historic ‘Blue Bridge’ opens at Indian Creek Nature Center
Pedestrian bridge is ‘no longer a burden but something of value’
May. 10, 2024 6:42 pm, Updated: May. 13, 2024 7:33 am
CEDAR RAPIDS — An almost 150-year-old Linn County bridge officially became a part of the pedestrian trail system at Indian Creek Nature Center after a ribbon-cutting Friday.
“So many people considered this bridge the entryway to Indian Creek Nature Preserve,” Indian Creek Nature Center Executive Director John Myers said at the ribbon cutting. “We are so grateful that this bridge will live on here at Indian Creek, and we pledge to take great care of it so that it can last for another 150 years.”
The bridge, which previously allowed traffic to cross Indian Creek on Bertram Road in southeast Cedar Rapids, now connects two portions of the trail system in a place where center officials had been wanting to put in a bridge, Myers said.
The bridge — affectionately called the “Blue Bridge” by many community members — was built in 1876 for pedestrians and horse-drawn wagons. It was updated several times to support vehicle traffic, but fire trucks, semi-trailers and snow plows couldn’t cross it.
There had been discussions, since the 1970s, about replacing the bridge, but those talks faced resistance from community members who didn’t want to see it dismantled. And, because it was a registered historic structure, the county legally had to find a way to preserve or commemorate it if it was replaced.
“When we started the relocation and replacement project in early 2023, the bridge was 146 years old and had a five-ton weight limit. It had surpassed its useful life, and it needed to be replaced with a bridge that was more suited to handle the needs of traffic,” Linn County Assistant Engineer Garret Reddish said during the ribbon-cutting.
“Admittedly, at first, I treated the historic mitigation as a requirement, as a hurdle we had to overcome,” he said. “But after a few meetings with the Historic Preservation Commission and the Indian Creek Nature Center, it was actually no longer a burden but something of value.
“We actually became more excited about saving and moving this truss than we did about building the new bridge.”
When the county started looking into the historic mitigation part of the process, it seemed the easiest thing to do would be to put up signs with information about the old bridge.
But when county officials sought community feedback, they learned people wanted the structure to be saved, said Maura Pilcher, a member of the Linn County Historic Preservation Commission.
“This bridge could not have continued as a vehicular bridge, but now this 150-year-old bridge has found a new life as a pedestrian bridge in one of our community’s most valued resources,” Pilcher said.
Moving the bridge to the nature center cost $184,000 and was part of a $2.5 million project to install a new concrete beam bridge, which is now open on Bertram Road.
The move almost resulted in the loss of the steel structure. The bridge twisted when crews initially lifted it from its foundation on Bertram Road, but the damage wasn’t as bad as initially thought, and most of the structure was salvaged.
“This bridge is a piece of history, and I’m glad we found a new home for it, where its bright blue trusses will be enjoyed for many generations to come,” Reddish said.
Comments: (319) 398-8328; emily.andersen@thegazette.com
Daily Newsletters