Kilbourn Bridge

The Kilbourn Bridge is located just south of Kilbourn, Iowa, United States. It carried traffic on Lark Avenue over the Des Moines River for 855 ft. In 1890 the Van Buren County Board of Supervisors contracted with the Western Bridge Company of Chicago to build a bridge at the Kilbourn ferry crossing. It was destroyed in a flood in 1903. The Board of Supervisors put off replacing the bridge until 1907, and then all the proposals came over the $20,000 limit. The following the year they removed the limit. The six-span bridge was designed by the Iowa State Highway Commission (ISHC), and built by the Ottumwa Supply and Construction Company of Ottumwa, Iowa. It was the first large-scale engineering project undertaken by the newly formed ISHC. The Kilbourn Bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1998.