Collection Descriptions

2011 Mapleton Tornado

There were 27 reports of tornadoes in western Iowa to the National Weather Service on Saturday, April 9, 2011. Experts confirmed 10 tornadoes in five counties in northwest Iowa.

The one that pummeled the town of Mapleton at about 7:20 p.m. was three-quarters of a mile wide at times with winds of at least 136 mph. Entering from the southwest part of the town of 1,200, it turned north during its 3.5-mile trek on the ground, cutting through the center of town.

Dozens of families lost their homes. Businesses, a grain elevator and the roof of the high school were other casualties. The American Red Cross reported at least 142 homes and businesses were damaged or destroyed. The town has about 530 residential dwellings and 180 commercial buildings.

Red Cross officials also estimated 200 homes in four counties were damaged by tornadoes. Fortunately, the physical human toll was minimal – a broken leg was the worst injury reported. Emergency workers reported a total of 12 to 14 injuries.

The worst damage in Mapleton was consistent with an EF3 tornado on the Enhanced Fujita scale, which has winds of 136 to 165 mph. More than 60 percent of the town was damaged or destroyed.

Iowa 141 and Iowa 175 in Mapleton were closed due to the storm damage debris and power lines scattered on the roadway. Iowa Department of Transportation (DOT) crews worked to remove the debris so the roadway could be reopened for emergency response and utility companies.

As clean-up continued over the following days, the Iowa DOT sent 26 workers with 17 dump trucks and endloaders to haul debris to a burn pile located by the river.

2008 Flood

The floods experienced in Iowa during June 2008 had a devastating effect on the lives and livelihoods of many Iowans. Flood waters also severely damaged Iowa’s transportation infrastructure, including its roads, bridges, railroads, transit facilities and buses, trails, and waterway terminals. For example, 441 miles of roadway in the state were closed at some point during the flood. At its peak, on June 16, 2008, 51 road sections were closed in the state. Many of these roads sustained significant damage, with several remaining closed for weeks after the flood waters receded.

The photos in this collection represent a compilation of images captured by Iowa Department of Transportation personnel or taken by local governmental agencies for purposes of seeking federal financial assistance, and shared with the department for the purposes of making the images available to the public. The photos chronicle the impacts on countless communities along the path of the flood waters as they crossed eastern Iowa, converging with other streams and rivers, until finally making their way southeast to the Mississippi River.

Burlingtion bridge collection (Great River Bridge)

This collection of 609 35mm color negatives and slides documents the construction and grand opening of the Great River Bridge, between 1989 and 1993. Replacing the 1918-era MacArthur Bridge, the Great River Bridge spans the Mississippi River, connecting Burlington, Iowa, and Gulf Port, Ill., on U. S. 34. The images were commissioned by the city of Burlington and donated to the Iowa Department of Transportation by city administrators.

Prior to start of construction in 1989, Burlington Mayor Lowell Bauer claimed the new bridge would "be a symbol of Burlington's future".^[1] Bridge planning could not have come at a better time. The MacArthur Bridge was showing its age, considering the average lifespan of a bridge is 50 years.^[2] Additionally, Iowa legalized riverboat casino gambling in 1989, and Burlington became a gaming riverboat port. The influx of Illinois gamblers and large number of existing interstate travelers would need a safe and reliable means to cross the Mississippi River.

Two companies were hired to construct the new bridge and tear down the MacArthur: Johnson Bros. of Minnesota, and Edward Kraemer & Sons Inc. of Wisconsin. Weather made construction difficult. In December 1989, temperatures as low as 20 degrees below zero Fahrenheit created large ice chunks in the river during cofferdam building, and over 10 inches of rain fell in Burlington in June 1990—6.3 inches above normal.^[3] Workers even endured the Great Flood of 1993—the most devastating flood in U.S. history according to some experts^[4] —yet the grand opening of the bridge took place that October.

The Great River Bridge is unique in its design; it is an asymmetrical, one-tower cable-stayed, five-lane bridge (three eastbound and two westbound lanes) spanning 2,267 feet. There are 13 pairs of stay-cables that suspend the deck on the east side, and 14 pairs on the west.

[1] Don Henry, The Bridge Book, (Burlington, Iowa, 1993), p. 48.
[2] Ibid, p. 28.
[3] Ibid, p. 63.
[4] Iowa Department of Natural Resources, Flood of 1993 Uncovers Devonian Sea Floor, http://www.igsb.uiowa.edu/Browse/flood93/flood93.htm (1994).