Harahan Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Harahan Bridge from Martyrs Park | |
| Coordinates | 35°07′45″N 90°04′33″W / 35.12917°N 90.07583°W |
| Carries | Union Pacific Railroad and pedestrians |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | West Memphis, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee |
| Maintained by | Union Pacific Railroad |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cantilevered through Truss bridge |
| Total length | 4,973 feet (1,516 m) |
| Longest span | 791 feet (241 m) |
| Clearance below | 108 feet (33 m) |
| Rail characteristics | |
| No. of tracks | 2 |
| History | |
| Opened | July 14, 1916 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 13.2 trains per day (as of 2014[update])[1] |
| Location | |
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The Harahan Bridge is a cantilevered through truss bridge[2] that carries two rail lines and a pedestrian bridge across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee. The bridge is owned and operated by Union Pacific Railroad and is the second longest pedestrian/bicycle bridge in the United States (after the Walkway Over the Hudson in Poughkeepsie, New York). It was built with roadways cantilevered off the sides of the main structure for vehicles.[3] These roadways are owned by the cities of Memphis, Tennessee, and Crittenden County, Arkansas, and were used from 1917–1949, until the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge opened 400 feet (120 m) south of the Harahan.[4][5][6] The bridge was named in honor of railroad executive James Theodore Harahan, former president of the Illinois Central Railroad, who was killed in a railroad accident during the construction of the bridge.[7] In February 2011, Union Pacific Railroad officials agreed to the idea of converting the 1917 roadways into a bicycle-pedestrian walkway across the river.[8][9] In June 2012, Memphis was awarded a $14.9 million federal grant to build the walkway. The overall project was expected to cost $30 million, of which about $11 million was used for the Harahan Bridge portion.[10][11] Construction was completed in 2016.
- ^ Missouri Department of Transportation (2017). The Merchants Bridge rehabilitation program (PDF) (Grant application). Figure 10: Rail Traffic Volumes Overlaid with Seismic Hazard, 2014.
- ^ "Harahan Bridge". Bridge Hunter.
- ^ Modjeski, Ralph (April 16, 1917). Harahan Bridge at Memphis Tn: Final Report.
- ^ Shelby County Register of Deeds: Book 0672, Page 466, August 31, 1917
- ^ Crittenden County Register of Deeds: Book 97, Page 335, September 10, 1918
- ^ "New Bridge Opens", Commercial Appeal, December 18, 1949
- ^ "J.T. Harahan Killed in his Private Car" (PDF). New York Times. January 23, 1912.
- ^ "Union Pacific Railroad will cooperate in effort to build walkway across Harahan Bridge". Commercial Appeal. February 4, 2011.
- ^ Case, B.M. (March 1915). "New Harahan Bridge Across the Mississippi River at Memphis". Rock Island Employees Magazine – via Memphis Historical Railroad Pages.
- ^ Charlier, Tom (June 19, 2012). "Memphis gets $14.9M grant to help build pathway across Harahan Bridge". Commercial Appeal. Archived from the original on June 22, 2012.
- ^ Scurlock, Stephanie; McCowan, Candace (August 13, 2012). "Bicycler Killed on Interstate Coming From Work". WREG.