Exploring the Historic Eads Bridge
Connecting St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois
The Eads Bridge was listed as a National Historic Landmark as of January 29, 1964. On October 15, 1966, the bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.
It was a road and railway bridge crossing over the Mississippi River at Washington Avenue in St. Louis connecting St. Louis, Missouri to East St. Louis, Illinois. This bridge has historic appeal and the design is attractive.
The Eads Bridge has had less traffic since 2014 when the Stan Musial Bridge opened, but it supposedly has many vehicles daily cross over it. This is a three-span, ribbed steel arch bridge. It has lower and upper decks with granite-faced limestone piers. The materials used to build this bridge include:
- 2390 tons of steel
- 3156 tons of wrought iron
- 806 tons of timber decking
- 4556 cubic yards of concrete
- 97,571 cubic yards of stone masonry
The bridge has a center span of 520 feet and the bridge clearance is 50 ft. above high water. The piers are made of limestone below the average high water mark and granite above that level. The highway deck is 54 feet wide and it’s supported by concrete foundations.
