 Construction of I @-@ 80 took place over 14 years . The first section opened on September 21 , 1958 , in the western suburbs of Des Moines . New sections of interstate opened up regularly over the next twelve years , 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 . 
