BETTENDORF, Iowa — Crews placed the final steel beam of the I-74 bridge project into place on Wednesday afternoon, marking a significant milestone toward the 'end' of construction.
The beam, measuring about 115 feet in length, was hoisted up via a crane and attached on the Iowa side of the bridge, near Grant St. It's the last of hundreds of similar beams to be installed. Crews estimate there's around 300 such girders simply from the beginning of the bridges in Bettendorf, to the riverfront on the Iowa side. All together, over 70.6 million pounds of structural steel has been laid for the bridge.
Now, project managers estimate the Illinois-bound bridge is still on track to open up by the end of 2021.
"We're at a milestone of the project. We've been working here for years and it's been a great project," said George Ryan, Corridor Manager for I-74 Improvements. "We can see the end line in sight and we're making great headway."
With all of the beams in place, he said the next step in the process is pouring a bunch of concrete on the Illinois-bound side of the bridge. Over 19 hundred cubic yards will have to be poured underneath the arch.
Additionally, the off-ramp leading from I-74 to Grant St. is expected to be finished sometime in September.
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Ryan remembers when the first beams went in, back in 2017, and all it took for construction crews to get to this point.
"The folks that are working on this project, many of them are from the area. They worked a lot of long hours," he said, noting that the bridge's track record for safety has been impeccable, with no lost time for accidents. "We've had our share of difficulties, with flooding, harsh winters [and] Covid. So they've dealt with a lot throughout the course of this project, but it feels good to be this close and to have an end in sight."
As the final steel beam was hoisted into place on Wednesday afternoon, several crew members stopped to film it on their phones, snapping pictures of the moment many of them had been working toward for four years.
"What an awesome project, when it's all said and done, I mean, the Quad Cities will have state of the art interstate access," remarked Ryan. "It's just been a great project. And I think everyone that works on it is proud of what they've accomplished."