A history of Marengo’s bridges, levees

MARENGO — Seventy years ago, in the mid 1950s, plans were being made to erect a new bridge over the Iowa River north of Marengo and to reconstruct the levee system.

Several have asked me to research a bit of that data as they watch the erosion around the piers of the former bridge at the north end of Court Avenue (now in Gateway Park).

The plat of Marengo in 1874 shows the river channel as well as the mill race that was hand dug from Bear Creek across the northwest corner of the town to the river around 1870.

This mill race supplied water power for saw mills, grist mills, and a woolen mill but was abandoned in the early 1900s.

On this plat, street names differ from today. West Street became Western Avenue, Green Street became Court Avenue, Water Street became Marengo Avenue and Bridge Street became Eastern Avenue.

With Marengo having been settled near the Iowa River in the mid 1800s, there have been issues with bridges and levees forever.

Pauline Lillie, in her “Marengo History” of 1984, and the Iowa County History of 1881 note that Robert McKee was granted a license to operate a ferry on the Iowa River in about 1850. This authorization gave him permission to keep a rope ferry available across the river where the State Road from Cedar Rapids (now part of F15, east of Marengo) came to Marengo.

The ferry was licensed for five years, and the agreement required that McKee “keep constantly on hand good boats and sufficient hands for ferrying. He would pay the county $2 the first year, $3 the second, $4 the third, etc. By the fifth year the rate would be $6 and would remain thus. He could charge 25 cents for ferrying a wagon and pair of horses or cattle; 10 cents for a man and horse; 5 cents a man on foot and 5 cents for each head of loose cattle or horses. In case of high water or river obstructions, the rate could be doubled.”

According to the History of Iowa County 1881, McKee ferried as many as 100 teams and wagons per day across the river during the Gold Rush period.

In 1855, Robert McKee and Benjamin Crenshaw constructed a wooden toll bridge across the river at Bridge Street (Eastern Avenue), but it was destroyed by flooding around 1860.

In 1872 grading was done at the north end of Green Street (Court Avenue) to prepare for an iron bridge. The stone abutments were delivered from Iowa City by local citizens and a bridge was put in place by the Kansas City Bridge Company at a total installation cost of $8,500.

When the iron bridge was delivered, it was found to be too short for the span, so was replaced by a longer bridge and the original one was placed over Bear Creek at the west edge of Marengo, entered via Main Street and coming over the creek near the Possehl farmstead (now the home of Joanne Slockett).

The bridge over the Iowa River opened in March of 1872 and was the first bridge to be placed across the Iowa River west of Iowa City.

Serious floods occurred along Bear Creek and its confluence with the Iowa River in the late 1800s and early 1900s. Dirt levees were constructed to hold back the flooding water and discussion occurred frequently between city officials and the state of Iowa regarding further levee protection.

Finally, in February of 1954, the State of Iowa proposed the construction of a bridge over the Iowa River north of Marengo along the Marengo/Washington Township line (Eastern Avenue).

The Marengo City Council recommended that the plans for the new bridge include the straightening of two or three bends in the river channel, the opening of a ditch along the railroad right of way and the draining of the old river bed commonly known as Roosevelt Lake.

This would allow the construction of a more adequate levee around the town which had been discussed for years.

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Finally, in the fall of 1955, a plan was approved for the state to construct a new bridge and extend Eastern Avenue on north of town. The road would become a state highway north of the bridge and merge into the county gravel road (currently F15) leading from the Amanas to Blairstown.

In September of 1955, the Iowa County Engineer, the late Orrin “Bud” Gode Jr., oversaw the project, and clearing and grading began by Parks Construction of Marengo.

The bridge would be constructed and placed by Schmidt Construction of Winfield. The pilings were driven in February of 1956, and complete details on the actual bridge construction and design can be found in the Pioneer Republican of Feb. 16, 1956.

The surfacing of the road north of the bridge was completed in late September of 1956, and the road was designated Highway 411.

At one point, there was discussion that this road might ultimately continue on north at the junction of F15 and lead straight north, connecting Highway 6 to Highway 30, but eventually that discussion ceased and 411 ended at the junction of F15.

Highway 411 ultimately became the “C” road and now is V66, or M Avenue, maintained by the county.

The new bridge over the Iowa River opened to traffic in mid-October of 1956. The 1,261 foot-long bridge across the Iowa River was then touted as the “longest inland bridge in Iowa.”

A sketch from the Pioneer Republican dated Sept. 8, 1955 shows the plan for the straightening of the river channel to eliminate two serious bends in the river at the north edge of Marengo along with plans for levee construction and reinforcement.

The plans were to eventually drain Roosevelt Lake (commonly referred to as the Old River Bed) just south of the current Lions Park, but that draining has not yet occurred.

In January of 1958, the Iowa County Board of Supervisors voted to close the former 1300-foot Iowa River Bridge at the north end of Court Avenue. The wood planking leading to the bridge was salvaged for $20,000, and the steel portion remained “until it was needed elsewhere.”

Today that steel bridge has been removed and only the abutments to the piers remain, which cause a buildup of logs and debris and slow the passage of water.

With the construction of the Coralville Reservoir and its subsequent effect on the river flow upstream, County Attorney Lewis McMeen approached the Corps of Engineers in the late 1960s about obtaining funds to redesign and rebuild the levee system of about 10,600 feet long around Marengo.

Finally, in 1972, the Corps released money to fund the planning and design for the levee improvement, but no funds were received until 1978. The estimated cost in 1975 when the project began was $1.5 million in federal funds and $116,000 in local funds.

Allegedly, this was a 500-year design to withstand a 500-year flood. The project was completed in November 1980.

Since that time, the levee system has been tested several times, severely in 1993 and again in 2008. Each time the levees have held.

They are mowed and maintained and under regular inspection to insure their strength and reliability. A generator was installed in early 2008, and it is turned on weekly to ensure its operation in time of need.

The late Larry Moore was the monitor and inspector of the levee system for many years.

The effects of the water flow since the construction of the Coralville Reservoir have been discussed many times over the past 50 years. The Corps says there is insufficient data to prove that the reservoir and dam have any effect, but farmers with land along the river in the Marengo area have a different opinion.

Marengo owes a debt of thanks to all who labored to erect and maintain the bridge and levee system around the town. Today’s water problems stem from water that cannot be pumped out into the river when the river is bank full or insufficient pumps to clear the standing water after a period of heavy rain or snowmelt.

For more detail about the floods and levees, see the Marengo Community History 1859-2009 at the Marengo Public Library or the Pioneer Heritage Museum Resource Library in Marengo.