The Brookport Bridge (officially the Irvin S. Cobb Bridge) is a ten-span, steel deck (grate), narrow two-lane

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

that carries U.S. Route 45 (US 45) across the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of Illino ...

in the U.S. states of

Illinois Illinois ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Midwestern United States, Midwestern United States. Its largest metropolitan areas include the Chicago metropolitan area, and the Metro East section, of Greater St. Louis. Other smaller metropolita ...

and

Kentucky Kentucky ( , ), officially the Commonwealth of Kentucky, is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States and one of the states of the Upper South. It borders Illinois, Indiana, and Ohio to the north; West Virginia and Virginia to ...

. It connects

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a home rule-class city in and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky. The largest city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located at the confluence of the Tennessee and the Ohio rivers, halfway between St. Louis, Missour ...

, north to

Brookport, Illinois Brookport is a city in Massac County, Illinois, United States. The population was 984 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Paducah, KY-IL Micropolitan Statistical Area. The former Mayor of Brookport, Tami Wessel, was one of nine Libertarian ma ...

. The bridge is named after Irvin S. Cobb, an author and journalist who was born in Paducah. The bridge was originally built by a private company and operated as a toll bridge. The state of Kentucky subsequently purchased the bridge from its builders. The bridge is notoriously difficult to cross, due to its very narrow lanes and steel grate deck. It is restricted to vehicles less than in width and in height, preventing most commercial vehicles from using the bridge. The nearby

Interstate 24 Bridge The Interstate 24 Bridge may refer to one of two distinct bridges on Interstate 24. Illinois-Kentucky The Interstate 24 Bridge is a two-span tied arch bridge that carries I-24 across the Ohio River. Built in 1973, it is in length and has two ...

can be used instead.

See also

References

External links