Photos: Truck-eating bridges in QC
In 1971, a local newspaper ran a special report on the “truck-eating viaduct” on Brady Street. A proposed solution at the time was yellow flashing lights.
“Must this viaduct ramming go on forever?” the Quad-City Times article asked.
Well, 39 years later as one of the first acts in my second stint as online editor, I started collecting all of the pictures through the years into one photo gallery for qctimes.com. It was a hit. They even started selling calendars.
It’s 2020 now and I’m at OurQuadCities.com and there are flashing lights and warning signs to spare, but the trucks still hit the various railroad overpasses in Davenport. And it turns out, here at Local 4 they already liked heading out to take photos and video of the truck-eating bridges — well, some people did.
So we’ve collected enough photos and video to get a gallery of our own started.
Since imitation is the sincerest form of flattery, allow me to flatter myself one time. Enjoy our truck-eating bridge photos below. We’ll keep adding to it as long as the bridges keep eating.
The railroad overpass at 4th and Perry joined the truck-eating bridges club for lunch on November 12, 2019. (Bryan Bobb, OurQuadCities.com) A semi hits the Brady Street railroad overpass on July 26, 2019. (John Blunk, Contributed photo) Follow @JohnBlunk on Twitter. Local 4 News viewer Jon Lodestein sent us this photo of the Government Bridge eating a truck using the OurQuadCities.com app on May 30, 2019. (Contributed photo) A tow truck had to pull out a trailer that got stuck under the bridge on Brady and 5th streets on May 20, 2019. (Shawn Loging, OurQuadCities.com) A tow truck had to pull out a trailer that got stuck under the bridge on Brady and 5th streets on May 20, 2019. (Shawn Loging, OurQuadCities.com) A recycling container was knocked off the back of a truck after hitting the railroad overpass at 5th and Harrison in Davenport on March 25, 2019. (Bryan Bobb, OurQuadCities.com) A semi clipped the rail bridge at 4th and Pershing in Davenport on March 15, 2019. (Owen Hoke, OurQuadCities.com) A semi shut down two lanes of traffic on Harrison Street in downtown Davenport after colliding with the 11-foot-8 railroad overpass April 5, 2018. (Ryan Jaster, OurQuadCities.com) The 8-foot-8 overpass on Kirkwood Boulevard has had many cars and people pass under it over the years, but on December 11, 2017, a small box truck managed to collide with the bridge. (Ryan Jaster, OurQuadCities.com) One of the Quad Cities’ truck-eating bridges claimed a rental truck on Tuesday, October 16, 2018. (Bryan Bobb, OurQuadCities.com) Traffic was slowed for hours on March 7, 2018 on Brady Street at one of Davenport’s notorious truck-eating bridges after a refrigerated truck became the latest to miss the warning signs and flashing lights. (OurQuadCities.com) A truck hauling pallets hit the truck-eating bridge on Brady Street in Davenport on February 27, 2018. (OurQuadCities.com) The driver of an Enterprise Commercial Truck Rental vehicle hit the bridge after coming down Harrison Street on March 1, 2016. (OurQuadCities.com) The truck-eating bridge at Harrison Street in Davenport had an early lunch on Monday. Full story (OurQuadCities.com) A box truck that was too tall for the low clearance on the Government Bridge got stuck heading to Illinois on September 18, 2018. (OurQuadCities.com) A rental truck is the latest victim of the truck-eating bridge near 4th and Brady around 5 a.m. on May 2, 2016. (OurQuadCities.com) A rental truck is the latest victim of the truck-eating bridge near 4th and Brady around 5 a.m. on May 2, 2016. (OurQuadCities.com)
Check the traffic cameras before you head out. They don’t have the truck-eating bridges featured, but they have the bridges you use (and clear) on a regular basis.
