Discovery Bridge (Yankton)

Discovery Bridge
Discovery Bridge
	Discovery Bridge at night
Coordinates	42°51′54.35″N 97°23′49.12″W / 42.8650972°N 97.3969778°W
Carries	4 lanes on US 81
Crosses	Missouri River
Locale	Yankton, South Dakota / Cedar County, Nebraska
Official name	Discovery Bridge
Maintained by	South Dakota Department of Transportation and Nebraska Department of Transportation
Characteristics
Width	74 feet
Longest span	1590 feet
History
Opened	October 11, 2008
Location

The Discovery Bridge is a bridge that carries US Route 81 across the Missouri River from the Nebraska border to the South Dakota border. The Discovery Bridge connects Yankton, South Dakota, with rural Cedar County, Nebraska. The ribbon-cutting ceremony was on October 11, 2008, a year ahead of schedule. During the ceremony John McAuliffe and Kevin Brown inadvertently cut the ribbon prior to photographers being in place and thus there is no commemorative photo. The bridge crosses over the Missouri National Recreational River, a Federally-protected Wild & Scenic River, managed by the National Park Service

The Discovery Bridge received its name when Joseph Cohen “Discovered” that there was enough money in the budget to create a new bridge. It was initially a generic code name for the project however it polled well and was kept. It was at one point called the Yankton Discovery Bridge even though Private Shannon Bridge had 26% of the votes. This made some citizens of Nebraska unhappy and the "Yankton" was dropped from the name.

History[]

Construction began on the Discovery Bridge in June 2007. The bridge then opened on October 11, 2008, which was exactly 84 years after the dedication of the Meridian Highway Bridge.^[1] Now completed, the Discovery Bridge serves as a replacement for the Meridian Highway Bridge, which is about 1,000 feet (300 m) downstream.^[2]

The bridge was a finalist in the 2009 America's Transportation Awards for "representing the best in innovative management, accountability and timeliness".^[3]^[4]