York Subways – NHR

In 1938-39 Nebraska’s Bureau of Roads and Bridges undertook a federal aid project. It entailed
grading, paving, and culvert construction along a thirty-eight-mile stretch of U.S. Highway 81 between
Fairmont and Osceola. Included in this was construction of three underpasses in York, designed to carry
the highway under 14th and 15th Streets and the tracks of the C.B.&Q. Railroad. Bureau engineers
developed plans for the three concrete/steel structures in August 1938 and awarded a contract to Peter
Kiewit’s Sons a month later. Using ornamental iron railings and stairs fabricated in Omaha, the Kiewit
crew completed the three York subways the following year. Although the three structures differ in detail,
the three underpasses are structurally similar as concrete rigid frames. Listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the York subways have
functioned in place in unaltered condition since their completion in 1939.