The Fort Madison Toll Bridge (also known as the Santa Fe Swing Span Bridge for the old Santa Fe Railway ) is a tolled, double-decked swinging truss bridge over the Mississippi River that connects Fort Madison, Iowa , and unincorporated Niota, Illinois . A double-track railway occupies the lower deck of the bridge, while two lanes of road traffic are carried on the upper deck. The bridge is about 1 mile (1.6 km) long with a swing span of 525 feet (160 m), and was the longest and largest double-deck swing-span bridge in the world when constructed in 1927. It replaced an inadequate combination roadway/single-track bridge completed in 1887. The main river crossing consists of four 270-foot (82 m) Baltimore through truss spans and a swing span made of two equal arms, 266 feet (81 m) long. In 1999, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places under the title, Fort Madison Bridge, ID number 99001035. It was also documented as survey number IA-62 by the Historic American Engineering Record , archived at the Library of Congress . Construction and photographic details were recorded at the time in Scientific American magazine.
19-451: The bridge is the western terminus of Illinois Route 9 which continues eastwards towards Canton, Illinois , about 80 miles (130 km), and Peoria , about 100 miles (160 km). Iowa Highway 2 formerly reached the bridge from the west. On July 26, 1927, operations were transferred from the original single-track bridge to the current double-track bridge. The first opening for river traffic occurred at 11:58 a.m. on July 26, 1927, for
38-549: A household in the town was $ 30,482, and the median income for a family was $ 38,450. Males had a median income of $ 27,266 versus $ 18,583 for females. The per capita income for the city was $ 17,263. About 12.2% of families and 17.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 29.3% of those under age 18 and 6.5% of those age 65 or over. Beginning in 1908, the Truman Pioneer Stud Farm in Bushnell
57-635: Is a city in McDonough County , Illinois , United States . The population was 2,718 at the 2020 census, down from 3,117 in 2010. Bushnell is located in northeastern McDonough County. Illinois state routes 9 and 41 pass through the city center as Cole Street. Route 9 goes west out of the city on Charles Street, leading 19 miles (31 km) to Blandinsville , while to the east it leads 27 miles (43 km) to Canton . Route 41 leads north 31 miles (50 km) to Galesburg and south 7 miles (11 km) to its terminus at U.S. Route 136 . Macomb ,
76-778: Is a two-lane highway for most of its length. Illinois Route 9 runs eastward from the Mississippi River at the Fort Madison Toll Bridge to the Indiana state line near Cheneyville at SR 26 and SR 352 . It crosses the Illinois River on the John T. McNaughton Bridge at Pekin , where it becomes known as Court Street in the city. It has an interchange with I-155 at Tremont ; I-55 / I-74 at Bloomington ; and Interstate 57 (I-57) at Paxton . IL 9
95-606: The Spoon River . The city is part of the Illinois River watershed. The town was founded in 1854 when the Northern Cross Railroad built a line through the area. Nehemiah Bushnell was the president of the railroad, and townspeople honored him by naming their community after him. The railroad later became part of the Chicago, Burlington and Quincy Railroad , which continues to operate through Bushnell under
114-529: The central part of the U.S. state of Illinois . It travels from Niota at the Fort Madison Toll Bridge , that crosses the Mississippi River into Iowa , eastward across central Illinois to State Road 26 (SR 26) at the Indiana state line. IL 9 is a major arterial route in rural central Illinois. It is a parallel highway to IL 116 to the north and U.S. Route 136 (US 136) to its south. It
133-525: The BNSF Fort Madison River Bridge operations manual, river traffic has the right-of-way over train and vehicle traffic on the bridge. Durations of openings vary depending on weather, river current, size and number of boats, and, occasionally, mechanical problems. A typical opening for a tow with 15 barges lasts 15–20 minutes. The bridge opens over 2,000 times per year, an average of more than five times per day. As of 2022,
152-603: The McDonough county seat , is 14 miles (23 km) southwest of Bushnell. According to the U.S. Census Bureau , Bushnell has a total area of 2.13 square miles (5.52 km ), of which 0.01 square miles (0.03 km ), or 0.38%, are water. The west side of the city drains to a south-flowing tributary of the East Fork of the La Moine River , while the east side drains to Shaw Creek, a southeast-flowing tributary of
171-543: The city was 98.79% White , 0.12% African American , 0.19% Native American , 0.09% Asian , 0.43% from other races , and 0.37% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 0.68% of the population. There were 1,323 households, out of which 29.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 52.9% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 32.8% were non-families. 27.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 15.3% had someone living alone who
190-468: The highway parallels the original Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway right-of way to Bushnell. From 1935 to 1937, IL 9 traveled a different route from Pekin to Bloomington, that original route is now posted as: Between Macomb and Peoria, the next section of IL 336 is being studied Portions of IL 9 are being considered for the IL 336 project from Peoria to Macomb. Bushnell, Illinois Bushnell
209-635: The highway turned north to Bushnell and then proceeded east along the current IL 9 alignment to Canton , Peoria County , and Pekin. This current highway moved north to terminate in Niota at the Fort Madison Toll Bridge (longest double-deck swing-span bridge in the world) after its completion in July 1928. The route parallels the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway and Mississippi River to Dallas City then turns slightly southeast to LaHarpe . From LaHarpe,
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#1732780078752228-559: The hull. The patent for this new process was later sold to the Quaker Oats Company . Bushnell is home to a Vaughan & Bushnell hammer factory and to Kitchen Cooked Potato Chips . As of the census of 2000, there were 3,221 people, 1,323 households, and 889 families residing in Bushnell. The population density was 1,573.9 inhabitants per square mile (607.7/km ). There were 1,446 housing units at an average density of 706.6 per square mile (272.8/km ). The racial makeup of
247-526: The name Burlington Northern Santa Fe . Bushnell was also served by the Toledo, Peoria and Western Railway , now the Keokuk Junction Railway . Amtrak trains pass through the city but do not stop. The Nagel Brothers of Bushnell were the first to invent a process of making rolled oats without having to steam the oats. Up until this time, the oats were first steamed to separate the groat from
266-511: The scow C. W. Howell , traveling downriver with no barges attached. The bridge is privately owned by BNSF Railway and is the river crossing for the Southern Transcon , BNSF's Chicago–Southern California main line. In 2022, between 40 and 100 trains crossed the bridge each day, including Amtrak 's Southwest Chief . Amtrak's Fort Madison station is 2 miles (3.2 km) west of the bridge. Per Coast Guard regulations and
285-532: The upper deck of the Fort Madison Toll Bridge is open to automobile traffic. It is closed to semi-trailer truck traffic. The BNSF, which owns and maintains the bridge has posted the following limits: Gross weight posted as no more than 16,000 Pounds (8 Tons). Width: 8 Ft. Height: 14 Ft. 4 In. Length: 60 Feet. Illinois Route 9 Illinois Route 9 ( IL 9 ) is a 218.31-mile-long (351.34 km) cross-state, east–west rural state highway in
304-449: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.94. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.9% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 26.4% from 25 to 44, 22.0% from 45 to 64, and 17.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.8 males. The median income for
323-497: Was established in 1918 as one of the original 46 State Bond Issue Route (SBI) routes. The routing of IL 9 has had two major changes since its establishment. The original western terminus was in Hamilton , at the old Keokuk Rail Bridge completed in 1916 and then proceeded east through Carthage and Macomb ( county seats of Hancock and McDonough counties), 9 miles (14 km) east of Macomb, southwest of New Philadelphia ,
342-623: Was home to one of the largest Christian music and arts festivals in the world, known as the Cornerstone Festival . Each year around the 4th of July, 25,000 people from all over the world would descend on the small farm town to watch over 300 bands, authors and artists perform at the Cornerstone Farm Campgrounds. The festival was generally well received by locals, and businesses in the area would typically put up signs welcoming festival-goers to their town. As
361-488: Was home to one of the largest horse shows in the Midwest . The show was well known for imported European horses. The Bushnell Horse Show returned in 2004 and has become one of the better draft horse hitch shows in the tri-state region. The Bushnell Horse Show features some of the best Belgian and Percheron hitches in the country. Teams have come from many different states and Canada to compete. From 1991 to 2012, Bushnell
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