The "Dry Land" Bridge

In 1884 Congress first proposed the Burt County Missouri River Bridge. In 1946 the Corps of Engineers approved the construction of a traffic bridge at Decatur to be placed over the uncompleted navigation channel. The 2 million dollar privately financed bridge was completed in 1951 as designed by Kirkham, Michael & Associates of Omaha, Nebraska. To save money, it was built over dry land by William J. Howard of Chicago and is 1,956 feet long, 23 feet wide, and has five spans. It sat unused for five years and received significant national attention as Decatur's "Dry Land Bridge" or the "Bridge to Nowhere," implying government incompetence. In 1955, Congress approved $11 million dollars to complete the work by rechanneling the Missouri River to flow under the bridge. The project's completion represented a feat in engineering at the time. The bridge has remained open since 1956 except for 2011, when it was closed for repairs after being damaged by floodwaters. In 2013, Nebraska and Iowa acquired the bridge and it became toll free.