Large Barge Crashes into Iowa's Historic Fort Madison Bridge

A rogue barge broke loose from a tugboat and collided with the nearly century-old Fort Madison Bridge in Iowa, prompting its closure but later reopening without reported injuries.

A rogue barge on the Mississippi River crashed into Iowa's Fort Madison Bridge on Thursday, evoking memories of a tragic bridge collapse in Maryland just weeks ago. The incident rattled nerves and prompted the temporary closure of the historic bridge, but fortunately, no injuries were reported.

The incident unfolded shortly after 1 p.m. when one of 15 barges being towed by a tugboat broke loose and slammed into the 95-year-old double-decked swing gate bridge. The barge became wedged against the bridge, which connects Fort Madison to Niota, Illinois.

The impact caused the bridge to close to all traffic while BNSF, the railway company that owns the bridge, assessed the damage. The bridge carries two lanes of road traffic on the upper deck and a double-track railway on the lower deck.

A subsequent video showed the barge sinking away from the bridge, with a boat alongside it. The incident raised concerns as it came just over a month after a cargo ship struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore, Maryland, causing it to collapse and killing six construction workers.

Lee County Sheriff Stacy Weber acknowledged that Thursday's incident was an unfortunate situation but emphasized that no one was hurt, which was the main priority. He praised the tugboat operator's efforts to contain the damage.

The Fort Madison Police Department later announced that BNSF had certified the bridge as safe and reopened it for both rail and vehicular traffic.

A representative from a barge tow company confirmed that the barge was carrying corn and belonged to Ingram Barge Company based in Nashville, Tennessee. According to historical records, between 40 and 100 trains crossed the bridge daily in 2022.

The incident underscores the vulnerability of bridges to collisions with barges and ships. In 2022, between 40 and 100 trains crossed the Fort Madison bridge each day. The bridge is about 1 mile long with a swing span of 525 feet. When it opened in 1927, it was the longest and largest double-deck swing-span bridge in the world, according to the Iowa Department of Transportation.

The latest incident in Iowa follows a similar incident in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, last month, where over two dozen river barges broke loose from their moorings and floated down the Ohio River, striking a bridge and damaging a marina. The Associated Press contributed to this report.