The final portion of Interstate 35 was completed in Daviess County, MO, in 1985 at the Grand River. A floodwater control project, the “Pattonsburg Dam” proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers play a part in delaying the final link of I-35 construction. Traffic was detoured onto Hwy. 69 until the interstate was finished; truck traffic was so heavy and the threat of accidents so real that local citizens dubbed the detour as “The Ho Chi Minh Trail” (after the dangerous military supply route running from North Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia to South Vietnam during the Vietnam War).
Steel I-beams were placed in position as the construction of Interstate 35 approached the Grand River. The new highway was elevated to assure travel safety regardless of occasional flooding river water.
The final portion of Interstate 35 was completed in Daviess County, MO, in 1985 at the Grand River. A floodwater control project, the “Pattonsburg Dam” proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers play a part in delaying the final link of I-35 construction.
The final portion of Interstate 35 was completed in Daviess County, MO, in 1985 at the Grand River. A floodwater control project, the “Pattonsburg Dam” proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers play a part in delaying the final link of I-35 construction.
State Sen. Hardin Cox (Rock Port) cuts the ceremonial ribbon officially marking completion of Interestate 35 in 1985. The Boy Scout attendant was Gallatin’s Chris Mort. Special guests seated on the flatbed truck stage provided by Terry Implement of Gallatin are, from left: Daviess County Commissioner Moris Best, ?, Presiding Commissioner Bob Owings, ?, ?, the Rev. Richard Thomas, Daviess County Sheriff Kenny Calvin, State Rep. Melvin Smith (4th District), ?, ?, and the Rev. Jim Crawford.
The final portion of Interstate 35 was completed in Daviess County, MO, in 1985 at the Grand River. A floodwater control project, the “Pattonsburg Dam” proposed by the Army Corps of Engineers play a part in delaying the final link of I-35 construction.
