As cars speed below the new and old Interstate 74 bridges, a 240,000 pound arch piece floats above the Mississippi River. That final arch piece for the Illinois-bound side means the entire project is closer to completion.
Snapping a photo of this moment is something Tammy Mutka couldn't miss.
"I wasn't even able to sleep last night (because) I was so excited," she says. "(I'm) running into work, but you know, gotta be here."
The local photographer and other spectators watched from the Bettendorf Riverfront as a crane settles the second arch's keystone down, and ironworkers guide it into place.
"They've got a lot of guts climbing up there," Wayne Siskoff says. "I don't think I can do that."
Wayne and his wife Marci set up lawn chairs and peek through binoculars as ironworkers take their final measurements.
"It amazes me, all the engineering that goes into this," Wayne says. "It's mind-boggling."
It'll take 4,000 bolts to hold the final arch piece in place. Project Manager George Ryan says some of the bolts will need to be put in after the platform underneath the workers is taken out. For now, a cable is supporting the keystone and that will be removed in about a week.
George says getting this keystone on was more challenging than the first one back in 2020.
"This side of the bridge, the eastbound side, has a bike path hanging off the outside, so the outside rib is at a different altitude and different level than the inside rib," he says.
Now, crews will focus on getting the rest of the project done, laying down the deck and pouring concrete on the Illinois-bound lanes.
"They're going to keep moving and hitting it real hard to get to closure," George says.
As for Tammy, she's not in a rush to see this get done. Like everyone else, she's just enjoying the show.
"Bridges are what join the Quad Cities," she says. "Every one of our bridges are national treasures to be honest. You know, this is history."
Project organizers expect the entire bridge to open to traffic by the end of 2021, and demolition of the original bridge will begin in 2022.