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Lattatudes

Lattatudes EDITORIAL Editor-in-Chief, John Latta, jlatta@rrpub.com Editorial Director, Marcia Gruver Doyle, mgruver@rrpub.com Executive Editor, Tina Grady Barbaccia, tbarbaccia@rrpub.com A Nebraska Story Editor Emeritus, Kirk Landers, kirk.landers@att.net Truck Editor, Jack Roberts, jroberts@rrpub.com Construction Editor, Tom Jackson, tjackson@rrpub.com Contributing Editor, Tom Kuennen, expwys@expresswaysonline.com Contributing Editor, Dan Brown, danbrown4@msn.com DESIGN Art Director, Sandy Turner, Jr., sturner@rrpub.com Graphic Designer, Kristen Chapman, kristenchapman@rrpub.com PRODUCTION Senior Production Director, Leah Boyd, lboyd@rrpub.com Advertising Production Manager, Linda Hapner, lhapner@rrpub.com PROJECTS Project Director, Jennifer Brady, jennifer.brady@rrpub.com PUBLISHING/ADMINISTRATIVE STAFF Senior Vice President, Construction Media Group, Dan Tidwell Vice President, Construction Media Group, Joe Donald Director, Marketing and Promotions, Construction Media Group, Mike Porcaro Controller, Paige Thompson Fair Audience Development Specialist, Circulation, Stacy A. Stiglic Research Director, Ginger Love ADVERTISING SALES Listing on page 39 HONORS 2011 Jesse H. Neal Award Winner Three-time Jesse H. Neal Awards Finalist Boger Award Honorable Mention Richard E. Lowell President’s Award Multiple ASBPE Awards 3200 Rice Mine Road N.E., Tuscaloosa, AL 35406 800-633-5953 www.rrpub.com Mike Reilly, Chairman, CEO Brent Reilly, President David Wright, Chief Administrative Officer Shane Elmore, Chief Process Officer Linda Longton, Vice President, Editorial Stacy McCants, Vice President, Audience Development In Memoriam: H. Pettus Randall II (1911 - 1971) - Founder H. Pettus Randall III (1945 - 2002) - Chairman B etter Roads’ production manager, Linda Hapner, sent me, as she does, a story idea. A wonderful read about a short-lived 1880’s bridge. The ingenuity would be valued today, although the technology is obsolete. It felt like a modern story populated by modern people, the good, the bad and the others. It was about the power of the elements, about engineers, bridge designers and builders, townsfolk, ﬁnanciers and railroads. It’s from Spans in Time: A History of Nebraska Bridges, edited by James E. Potter and L. Robert Puschendorf (Nebraska State Historical Society, 1999). In those days when railroads bridged rivers it was often only for their trains, no passage for horse-drawn and pedestrian trafﬁc or livestock. Crude, unreliable ferries were the only choice. Sometimes, in deep winter, unpredictable ice could be crossed. Summer 1888, and only the new Burlington railroad bridge spanned the Missouri River at Nebraska City. Colonel S. N. Stewart, of Philadelphia, offered to build a pontoon toll bridge if the community would subsidize it. Costing $18,000, the bridge opened August 23. It was proclaimed the ﬁrst such bridge across the Missouri and the largest drawbridge of its kind in the world. “The pontoon section crossing the main channel was 1,074 feet long, with a 1,050-foot cribwork approach spanning a secondary channel between an island and the Iowa shore,” writes Potter. “The roadway, including two pedestrian footways, was twenty-four-and-one-half-feet wide. Opening the “draw” (the V-shaped portion that could swing open for boats or ﬂowing ice) provided a 528-foot-wide passage. Tolls for round trip crossings were set at ﬁfty cents for double teams, forty cents for single teams, a quarter for a horse and rider, a nickel for pedestrians, and from ten to two cents each for horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs. The bridge was considered a signiﬁcant engineering feat and was featured in articles published in the Scientiﬁc American and Harper’s Weekly.” Mostly the bridge worked well. But it suffered major damage when the wild Missouri ﬂooded and from wrecking-ball chunks of ice. It was in and out of service. So in spring 1890 the city fathers planned a bridge bond election. A displeased Colonel Stewart threatened to remove his pontoon bridge. The bond passed and courts upheld it against Burlington’s claim that it deserved the bond money. Colonel Stewart said enough. He sold his bridge to Atchison, Kansas, and ﬂoated it downriver to its new home. A month later, the U.S. District Court ruled the bridge bonds were invalid, writes Potter, and Nebraska City was back where it started. In 1891 Burlington adapted its bridge to carry non-railroad trafﬁc. by John Latta, Editor-in-Chief I never tire of reading about the adventures of road and jlatta@rrpub.com bridge builders. They make you feel good, don’t they? Better Roads September 2012 3

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