The Caruthersville Bridge is a single tower

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed ...

carrying Interstate 155 and U.S. Route 412 across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...

between

Caruthersville, Missouri Caruthersville is a city in and the county seat of Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States, located along the Mississippi River in the Bootheel region of the state's far southeast. The population was 5,562, according to the 2020 census. Histor ...

and Dyersburg, Tennessee. It is the only bridge that connects Missouri and Tennessee. It stands downstream of the Cairo Mississippi River Bridge and upstream of the

Hernando de Soto Bridge The Hernando de Soto Bridge is a tied-arch bridge carrying Interstate 40 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas, and Memphis, Tennessee. The design is a continuous cantilevered cable-stayed steel through arch, with beds ...

History

The bridge was first proposed in the early 1940s. A committee was created by both state legislatures to study the possibility of constructing the bridge in 1949. The site was chosen by the commission on November 18, 1952, which was subsequently approved by the Army Corps of Engineers on August 20, 1953. Construction of the bridge began in March 1969. The bridge cost and was opened on December 1, 1976, in a ceremony by Missouri Governor

Kit Bond Christopher Samuel "Kit" Bond (born March 6, 1939) is an American attorney, politician and former United States Senator from Missouri and a member of the Republican Party. First elected to the U.S. Senate in 1986, he defeated Democrat Harriett W ...

and Tennessee Governor

Ray Blanton Leonard Ray Blanton (April 10, 1930 – November 22, 1996)Fred Rolater"Leonard Ray Blanton" ''Tennessee Encyclopedia of History and Culture'', 2009. Retrieved: December 31, 2012.Cairo, Illinois and

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, though the Dorena-Hickman Ferry also crosses the Mississippi in this area. It is also the only bridge to connect the states of

Missouri Missouri is a state in the Midwestern region of the United States. Ranking 21st in land area, it is bordered by eight states (tied for the most with Tennessee): Iowa to the north, Illinois, Kentucky and Tennessee to the east, Arkansas t ...

and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

directly. Interstate 155 connects Dyersburg, Tennessee (and the proposed Interstate 69) with

Interstate 55 Interstate 55 (I-55) is a major Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates that end in a five, it is a major cross-country, north–south route, connecting the Gulf of Mexico to the Great Lakes. The h ...

near

and

Hayti, Missouri Hayti (pronounced "HAY-tie") is a city in eastern Pemiscot County, Missouri, United States. The population was 2,493 at the 2020 census. History Hayti was platted in 1894, when the railroad was extended to that point. According to one tradition, ...

. U.S. Route 412, when created in 1982, was routed across the bridge. Caruthersville-bridge-construction

References

Bridges over the Mississippi River Bridges completed in 1976 Buildings and structures in Pemiscot County, Missouri Road bridges in Missouri Road bridges in Tennessee Buildings and structures in Dyer County, Tennessee Interstate 55 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System 1976 establishments in Missouri Cantilever bridges in the United States Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States 1976 establishments in Tennessee U.S. Route 412 {{Tennessee-bridge-struct-stub

History

See also

References