Eads Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The Eads Bridge from St. Louis, to East St. Louis, Illinois, over the Mississippi River | |
| Coordinates | 38°37′41″N 90°10′17″W / 38.62806°N 90.17139°W |
| Carries | 4 highway lanes 2 MetroLink tracks |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois |
| Maintained by | City of St. Louis |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Arch bridge |
| Total length | 6,442 ft (1,964 m) |
| Width | 46 ft (14 m) |
| Longest span | 520 ft (158 m) |
| Clearance below | 88 ft (27 m) |
| History | |
| Designer | James B. Eads |
| Construction start | 1867[1] |
| Opened | 1874[1] |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 7,100 (2014)[2] |
Eads Bridge | |
| NRHP reference No. | 66000946[3] |
| Significant dates | |
| Added to NRHP | October 15, 1966 |
| Designated NHL | January 29, 1964[4] |
| Location | |
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The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing to the north, and the grounds of the Gateway Arch to the south. The bridge is named for its designer and builder, James Buchanan Eads. Work on the bridge began in 1867, and it was completed in 1874. The Eads Bridge was the first bridge across the Mississippi south of the Missouri River. Earlier bridges were located north of the Missouri, where the Mississippi is smaller[clarification needed]. None of the earlier bridges survived, which means that the Eads Bridge is also the oldest bridge on the river.
To accommodate the massive size and strength of the Mississippi River, the Eads Bridge required a number of engineering feats. It pioneered the large-scale use of steel as a structural material, leading the shift from wrought-iron as the default material for large structures. Its foundations, more than 100 feet below water level, were the deepest underwater constructions at the time. They were installed using pneumatic caissons, a pioneering application of caisson technology in the United States and, at the time, by far the largest caissons ever built. Its 520-foot center arch was the longest rigid span ever built at the time. The arches were built suspended from temporary wooden towers, sometimes cited as the first use of the "cantilever principle" for a large bridge. These engineering principles were used for later bridges, including the Brooklyn Bridge, which began construction in 1870.
The Eads Bridge became a famous image of the city of St. Louis, superseded only by the Gateway Arch, completed in 1965. The highway deck was closed to automobiles from 1991 to 2003,[5] but has been restored and now carries both vehicular and pedestrian traffic. It connects Washington Avenue in St. Louis with Riverpark Drive and East Broadway in East St. Louis.[6] The former railroad deck now carries the St. Louis MetroLink light rail system, connecting Missouri and Illinois stations.
The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places as a National Historic Landmark. As of April 2014, it carries about 8,100 vehicles daily, down 3,000 since the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge opened in February 2014.
- ^ a b Eads Bridge at Structurae
- ^ Maddox, Teri (August 31, 2017). "Here's how some commuters are avoiding construction chaos on the Poplar Street Bridge". Belleville News-Democrat. Retrieved October 30, 2020.
- ^ "National Register Information System – (#66000946)". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. April 15, 2008.
- ^ "Eads Bridge". National Historic Landmark summary listing. National Park Service. Archived from the original on December 6, 2008. Retrieved July 3, 2008.
- ^ "Visitors Guide to the Eads Bridge". Archived from the original on November 2, 2016. Retrieved February 23, 2019.
- ^ "Eads Bridge" (Map). Google Maps. Google. February 23, 2019. Retrieved February 23, 2019.