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On October 11, 2008 the Discovery Bridge was formally opened in a ceremony attended by thousands. The Discovery Bridge was built to replace the Meridian Highway Bridge, which is located approximately 1,000 feet downstream and was opened in 1924. The Meridian Bridge is “a steel, vertical lift bridge double deck, Pratt through truss structure.” While the bridge could have been rehabilitated to serve traffic for an additional 25 to 35 years, it was decided that the cost of a new bridge would be less than the annual rehabilitation costs of the Meridian Bridge. 

While the Meridian Bridge originally carried U.S. Highway 81 over the Missouri River, that is a task the Discovery Bridge does now. The Discovery Bridge also connects Yankton, South Dakota, with rural Cedar County, Nebraska. Yankton is located on the north bank of the Missouri River in southeastern South Dakota. It was incorporated as a village in 1861 and served as the Dakota Territory capital from 1861 to 1883.

Public officials on hand for the event included Nebraska Governor Tim Heineman; U.S. Senators Tim Johnson of South Dakota, John Thune of South Dakota, and Ben Nelson of Nebraska; U.S. Representatives Stephanie Herseth Sandlin of South Dakota and Jeff Fortenberry of Nebraska; and Yankton Mayor Dan Specht.

“I have been looking forward to joining with community members from South Dakota and Nebraska alike to celebrate the opening of the Discovery Bridge,” said Senator Johnson at the time. “Infrastructure improvements like this do not happen overnight.”

Mayor Specht talked about the bridge’s range of potential benefits for those living in or traveling through the region. “This new bridge means many, many things to many different types of people,” he said. “Whether it’s a farmer with equipment, a trucker who’s taking [produce] out of or into the city of Yankton or a traveler or visitor, this bridge is important to our community.”

Following the ceremony, Dave Spencer and Jim Black, Yankton residents, were among those in the first auto to officially cross the Discovery Bridge. Spencer submitted the winning name for the bridge, and Black had served as the long-time chairman of the Building Yankton’s Bridge to the Future Committee. 

About the Discovery Bridge

The Nebraska Department of Roads (NDOR) was the lead agency for the Meridian Highway Bridge replacement project. The Discovery Bridge was designed as a four-lane, six-span bridge. It is a steel girder bridge with a concrete deck and is very similar to two other bridges that cross the Missouri River upstream and downstream from Yankton.

The bridge measures 1,590 feet in length and 74 feet in width. The Discovery Bridge’s prominent architectural features include 14 decorative 50-foot-tall spires that are wired for lighting. 

Work on the drill shafts for the piers began in June 2007 and a groundbreaking ceremony was held on July 4, 2007. The concrete deck work began in June 2008 and was completed on August 19, 2008. It was completed a year ahead of schedule and came in under budget. The bridge was built by the Jensen Construction Company of Des Moines, Iowa, at a cost of $24 million. To recognize the innovative management that went into the bridge’s construction, it was a finalist in the 2009 America’s Transportation Awards competition.

The Discovery Bridge is jointly owned by the Nebraska Department of Roads and the South Dakota Department of Transportation and both government agencies are responsible for its upkeep and maintenance.

Meridian Highway Bridge

When it opened, the Meridian Highway Bridge was the final link of the Meridian Highway. The Meridian Highway was designated in 1911 (before highways were numbered) and stretched from Pembina, North Dakota, to Fort Worth, Texas. A large part of the 2,400-mile-long highway was reclassified as U.S. Highway 81 in 1926. 

The Meridian Bridge is Yankton’s signature landmark. When it opened, the bridge was the first to span the Missouri River at that time. The bridge is the only vertical lift span in Nebraska and South Dakota and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1993. After the Discovery Bridge opened, the Meridian Bridge was closed to vehicular traffic, was rehabilitated and reopened for pedestrian/biker use in 2011.

FreightWaves Classics thanks epoxyinterestgroup.org, johnweeks.com, norfolkdailynews.com, transportationhistory.org, and visityanktonsd.com for information and photos used in this article.