Have you ever heard of a singing bridge? It’s the name for a certain type of bridge with a metal grate flooring that changes tone against your wheels as you drive over it. There aren’t many left, but there is at least one still around that you can drive across in Iowa: the Black Hawk Bridge in Lansing that heads across the Mississippi River to Wisconsin. You can still drive across it, true, but you’d better do it soon. Its replacement is scheduled to begin construction in 2024.

The Black Hawk Bridge, also known as the Lansing Bridge (because it's in Lansing, Iowa) is Iowa's northernmost bridge across the Mississippi River.
Management / Tripadvisor
It carries Iowa Highway 9 and Wisconsin Highway 82.
Iowa DOT
It's a unique bridge of riveted cantilever through truss design, one of only five examples in the entire state, and it was built from 1929 to 1931. It made history as the first passenger bridge to join the states of Iowa and Wisconsin.
Iowa DOT

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This bridge is 1,127 feet in length, divided into five segments in an eye-catching silhouette. It made an appearance in a movie, the film "The Straight Story," too. And it's one of the last bridges -- in Iowa at least -- that you can still drive across to hear sing.
Dukedauphin / Wikipedia
That's right, this singing bridge is such that when your tires rumble over the surface of the bridge, the sound they produce, that routine sound of wheels turning on road, changes a little in tone. This creates a unique sort of song that you'll want to turn the radio down to hear.
Mark H / Tripadvisor
But if you want to hear this bridge's song, or you want to share this unique experience with your kids or grandkids, don't wait too long! The old bridge will most likely only be open to vehicle traffic for a few more years; a new replacement bridge is scheduled to be built beginning in 2024.
Mark H / Tripadvisor
The replacement bridge will look very similar to the original bridge, but the big question is, will it sing? The answer to that still remains to seen... or rather, heard.
Iowa DOT

To learn more about the Black Hawk singing bridge, visit the Iowa Department of Transportation website here. Spill the beans – are there any other singing bridges still open to vehicle traffic in Iowa? We don’t know, but we do know that there are other interesting bridges across the Mississippi River as well, even if they don’t serenade their drivers.

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