This bridge is a typical Interstate Highway System steel stringer that carries I-80 across the Mississippi River between Le Claire, Iowa and Rapids City, Illinois. It opened to traffic on October 27, 1966. The bridge is signed as a memorial to Fred Schwengel on the eastbound(Iowa) side of the bridge. Frederick Delbert Schwengel(1907 – 1993) was born in Franklin County, Iowa, educated in Missouri and Iowa, and was a teacher in Missouri early in his career. He left teaching and moved to Davenport, where he went into the insurance business. In 1944, he was elected to the first of five consecutive terms in the Iowa House of Representatives. He was also elected to serve eight terms in the US House of Representatives. Mr. Schwengel was a noted historian and founded the United States Capitol Historical Society in 1962. He was also an original member of the Highway Beautification Committee in 1971. He attended the ribbon cutting of this bridge in 1966, and it was named in his honor, two years after his death, in 1995. I-80 is the busiest of the Interstate Highway System, if you are checking in on this bridge, you are in good company.
