Construction of I-80 took place for over 14 years. The first section of the Interstate opened on September 21, 1958, in the western suburbs of Des Moines. New sections of the highway opened up regularly over the next twelve years, even though construction in eastern Iowa was completed in 1966. The final piece of I-80 in Iowa, the Missouri River bridge to Omaha, Nebraska, opened on December 15, 1972. By the 1980s, I-80 had fallen into disrepair in Iowa and across the country. Federal funding was freed up in 1985 to allow reconstruction of the highway.