The distinctive 800-ft-long, 164-ft-tall “basket handle” true arches of the new Interstate 74 Mississippi River Bridge have yet to rise, but the $1.2-billion project connecting Moline, Ill., and Bettendorf, Iowa, has made significant progress since construction began in July 2017. Bridge contractor Lunda Construction Co. has placed nearly 240 drilled shaft foundations for the 3,400-ft-long, eight-lane crossing, designed by Alfred Benesch & Co., as well as portions of the arch foundations. Work is also underway on new approaches and improvements to connecting roadways within a seven-mile corridor on both sides of the river, under separate contracts by Civil Constructors, Kraemer North America and Walsh Construction. When complete in 2021, the collaboration between the Illinois and Iowa Departments of Transportation will more than double the capacity of the existing crossing that includes structures built in the mid-1930s.