The MacArthur Bridge is a truss bridge that connects St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois over the Mississippi River. The bridge was initially called the "St. Louis Municipal Bridge" and known popularly as the "Free Bridge" due to the original lack of tolls. Tolls were added for auto traffic beginning in 1932. In 1942, the bridge was renamed for Douglas MacArthur. The bridge was constructed to break the monopoly of the Terminal Railroad Association, which controlled two other bridges at St. Louis and charged what were viewed as unreasonable tolls.[1]
Following a 1906 Congressional bill authorizing the City of St. Louis to build a new Mississippi River Bridge, bonds were issued for an initial amount of $3.5 million. Construction on the bridge began 1909, however, money ran out before the bridge approaches could be finished. This led to a second bond issuance of $2.75 million in 1914, and the bridge did not open until 1917, when it was first opened to automobile traffic.[1] Railroad traffic would not use the bridge's lower deck until 1928. The bridge was built by Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. and American Bridge Company, with the design completed by Boller & Hodge.[1]
From 1929 through 1955, the MacArthur Bridge carried U.S. Highway 66[2] until the completion of the nearby Poplar Street Bridge. From 1947 to 1974, U.S. Highway 460 crossed the bridge, terminating on the west side of the bridge. In 1981 the bridge was closed to vehicles because of pavement deterioration and the eastern ramp approaches were torn out. The bridge is now in use only by railroads. The disused vehicle deck has been removed.
In 1989, the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis acquired the MacArthur Bridge from the City of St. Louis in exchange for the title to the Eads Bridge.[1] The Eads bridge, one of the primary reasons for the TRRA's original formation, had become obsolete for modern-day rail traffic due to the height restrictions it placed on rail cars.[3]
By 2007, only about 30% of the total deck reserved for automobile use had been removed. Most of the removed sections were on the East St. Louis side. The western ramp was relinquished to Ralston Purina and turned into a parking lot. In 2013 the TRRA began removing all of the auto deck over the river. By late 2014, the vehicle deck on the bridge proper had been removed, and work was progressing onto the western approach.
The MacArthur Bridge continues to be the vital railroad link connecting west to east for a large number of commodities, and bulk cargo. In 2012, it was the 17th busiest railroad bridge in the United States carrying roughly 40 trains per day.[2][4]
In 2022, the Terminal Railroad began a $57.3 million rehabilitation project on the bridge. The project will include replacing the 1912 main span girders and a reconstruction of the Broadway truss in downtown St. Louis.[5] The project will allow longer and wider railroad cars on the approaches and the new girders will extend the life of the bridge to 2085.[6]
Galleryedit
The MacArthur Bridge seen from the St. Louis riverfront
The MacArthur Bridge seen from the Poplar Street Bridge
The Gateway Arch seen from beneath the MacArthur Bridge
macarthur, bridge, louis, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, macarthur, bridge, louis, news, newspapers. This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources MacArthur Bridge St Louis news newspapers books scholar JSTOR March 2013 Learn how and when to remove this template message The MacArthur Bridge is a truss bridge that connects St Louis Missouri and East St Louis Illinois over the Mississippi River The bridge was initially called the St Louis Municipal Bridge and known popularly as the Free Bridge due to the original lack of tolls Tolls were added for auto traffic beginning in 1932 In 1942 the bridge was renamed for Douglas MacArthur The bridge was constructed to break the monopoly of the Terminal Railroad Association which controlled two other bridges at St Louis and charged what were viewed as unreasonable tolls 1 MacArthur BridgeCoordinates38 36 53 N 90 11 01 W 38 61472 N 90 18361 W 38 61472 90 18361CarriesFreight and passenger trafficUnion Pacific BNSF AmtrakCrossesMississippi RiverLocaleSt Louis Missouri and East St Louis IllinoisOwnerTerminal Railroad Association of St LouisCharacteristicsDesignTruss bridgeTotal length18 261 feet 5 566 m Longest span677 feet 206 m Clearance below108 feet 33 m HistoryOpened1917 107 years ago 1917 Closed1981 upper auto deck StatisticsDaily traffic40 trains per dayLocation Upon completion the structure was the largest double deck steel bridge in the world 2 Contents 1 History 2 Gallery 3 See also 4 References 5 External linksHistory editFollowing a 1906 Congressional bill authorizing the City of St Louis to build a new Mississippi River Bridge bonds were issued for an initial amount of 3 5 million Construction on the bridge began 1909 however money ran out before the bridge approaches could be finished This led to a second bond issuance of 2 75 million in 1914 and the bridge did not open until 1917 when it was first opened to automobile traffic 1 Railroad traffic would not use the bridge s lower deck until 1928 The bridge was built by Missouri Valley Bridge amp Iron Co and American Bridge Company with the design completed by Boller amp Hodge 1 From 1929 through 1955 the MacArthur Bridge carried U S Highway 66 2 until the completion of the nearby Poplar Street Bridge From 1947 to 1974 U S Highway 460 crossed the bridge terminating on the west side of the bridge In 1981 the bridge was closed to vehicles because of pavement deterioration and the eastern ramp approaches were torn out The bridge is now in use only by railroads The disused vehicle deck has been removed In 1989 the Terminal Railroad Association of St Louis acquired the MacArthur Bridge from the City of St Louis in exchange for the title to the Eads Bridge 1 The Eads bridge one of the primary reasons for the TRRA s original formation had become obsolete for modern day rail traffic due to the height restrictions it placed on rail cars 3 By 2007 only about 30 of the total deck reserved for automobile use had been removed Most of the removed sections were on the East St Louis side The western ramp was relinquished to Ralston Purina and turned into a parking lot In 2013 the TRRA began removing all of the auto deck over the river By late 2014 the vehicle deck on the bridge proper had been removed and work was progressing onto the western approach The MacArthur Bridge continues to be the vital railroad link connecting west to east for a large number of commodities and bulk cargo In 2012 it was the 17th busiest railroad bridge in the United States carrying roughly 40 trains per day 2 4 In 2022 the Terminal Railroad began a 57 3 million rehabilitation project on the bridge The project will include replacing the 1912 main span girders and a reconstruction of the Broadway truss in downtown St Louis 5 The project will allow longer and wider railroad cars on the approaches and the new girders will extend the life of the bridge to 2085 6 Gallery edit nbsp The MacArthur Bridge seen from the St Louis riverfront nbsp The MacArthur Bridge seen from the Poplar Street Bridge nbsp The Gateway Arch seen from beneath the MacArthur Bridge nbsp The MacArthur BridgeSee also edit nbsp Transport portal nbsp Engineering portal nbsp United States portal nbsp Illinois portal List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi RiverReferences edit a b c d MacArthur Bridge Bridgehunter com Retrieved 2020 05 28 a b c MacArthur Bridge Preservation Research Office Retrieved 2020 05 28 Terminal Railroad Association of St Louis TRRA History Archived 2008 10 12 at the Wayback Machine Automotive deck being removed from historic MacArthur Bridge FOX 2 2014 10 21 Retrieved 2022 11 01 Hibbard Matthew 2019 06 12 TRRA Awarded 28 8 Million for MacArthur Bridge Rehabilitation St Louis Regional Freightway Retrieved 2022 11 01 Project to replace MacArthur Bridge starts Sunday FOX 2 2022 07 24 Retrieved 2022 11 01 External links edit nbsp Wikimedia Commons has media related to MacArthur Bridge St Louis MacArthur Bridge photographs University of Missouri St Louis Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title MacArthur Bridge St Louis amp oldid 1162576917, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
