The MacArthur Bridge is a truss bridge that connects
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
and
East St. Louis, Illinois
East St. Louis is a city in St. Clair County, Illinois. It is directly across the Mississippi River from Downtown St. Louis, Missouri and the Gateway Arch National Park. East St. Louis is in the Metro-East region of Southern Illinois. Once a b ...
over 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 ...
. 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.
Upon completion, the structure was the largest double-deck steel bridge in the world.
History
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.
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
The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitt ...
, with the design completed by Boller & Hodge.
From 1929 through 1955, the MacArthur Bridge carried
U.S. Highway 66
U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...
until the completion of the nearby
Poplar Street Bridge
The Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge, formerly known as the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge and popularly as the Poplar Street Bridge or PSB, completed in 1967, is a deck girder bridge across the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, ...
. From 1947 to 1974,
U.S. Highway 460
U.S. Route 460 (US 460) is a spur route of U.S. Route 60. It currently runs for 655 miles (1,054 km) from Norfolk, Virginia, at its parent route U.S. Route 60 in Virginia, U.S. Route 60 at Ocean View, Virginia, Ocean View to Frankfort, ...
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
The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and ...
.
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.
[Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis - TRRA History](_blank)
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.
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. 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.
Gallery
File:MacArthur Bridge Again.jpg, The MacArthur Bridge seen from the St. Louis riverfront
File:MacArthurBridge02.jpg, The MacArthur Bridge seen from the Poplar Street Bridge
File:Arch and bridges (17504918994).jpg, The Gateway Arch
The Gateway Arch is a monument in St. Louis, Missouri, United States. Clad in stainless steel and built in the form of a weighted catenary arch, it is the world's tallest arch and Missouri's tallest accessible building. Some sources consider ...
seen from beneath the MacArthur Bridge
File:MacArthur Bridge (St. Louis).jpg, The MacArthur Bridge
See also
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List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
This is a list of all current and notable former bridges or other crossings of the Upper Mississippi River which begins at the Mississippi River's source and extends to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois.
Crossings Minnesot ...
References
External links
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{{Structures in Greater St. Louis
Bridges over the Mississippi River
Bridges on U.S. Route 66
Bridges in St. Louis
Bridges completed in 1917
Steel bridges in the United States
Truss bridges in the United States
Railroad bridges in Illinois
Railroad bridges in Missouri
Former road bridges in the United States
Road bridges in Illinois
Road bridges in Missouri
Bridges in St. Clair County, Illinois
East St. Louis, Illinois
Former toll bridges in Illinois
Former toll bridges in Missouri
U.S. Route 66 in Missouri
U.S. Route 66 in Illinois
Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States