The Platte Purchase Bridge was a

continuous truss bridge A continuous truss bridge is a truss bridge which extends without hinges or joints across three or more supports. A continuous truss bridge may use less material than a series of simple trusses because a continuous truss distributes live loads ...

over the Missouri River that handled northbound U.S. Route 69, connecting the Seventh Street Trafficway in

Fairfax, Kansas The Fairfax Industrial District is a manufacturing area of Kansas City, Kansas, on the Goose Island river bend of the Missouri River. The US 69 Missouri River Bridge provides access to the district from Missouri's Platte County and Riverside c ...

with

Interstate 635 (Kansas–Missouri) Interstate 635 (I-635) is a connector highway between I-35 in Overland Park, Kansas, and I-29 in Kansas City, Missouri, approximately long. It is mostly in the US state of Kansas, servicing the city of Kansas City, Kansas, but extends into ...

Riverside, Missouri Riverside is a city in Platte County, Missouri and is part of the Kansas City metropolitan area within the United States. The population was 2,937 at the 2010 census. History Riverside lies on the edge of the Missouri River and was formally ...

. Its biggest span was 465.96 feet and it is 2552.19 feet long and had a deck width of 28.31 feet and vertical clearance of 15.02 feet. The bridge was named for the

Platte Purchase The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from American Indian tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the Missouri River and added to the northwest corner of the state of Miss ...

. 250px, Platte Purchase and Fairfax Bridges from the north 250px, Platte Purchase Bridge interior

History

The bridge was opened in 1957 to alleviate traffic concerns on the older Fairfax Bridge. The Platte Purchase Bridge carries northbound traffic, while the older span carries southbound traffic. In 2013 plans were announced for replacement of both the Platte Purchase Bridge and the Fairfax Bridge. When the latter closed on October 31, 2014, the Platte Purchase span was restriped to handle two-way traffic. The Platte Purchase bridge was set for demolition in late 2016 when the new bridge opened. The first detonation occurred on the morning of Friday, December 9, 2016, and the rest of the bridge was demolished on Thursday, January 12, 2017. The replacement bridge was formally opened by the

Missouri Department of Transportation The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission. MoDOT designs, ...

on March 16, 2017.

References

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place = Missouri River , bridge = Platte Purchase Bridge , bridge signs = ''(demolished)'' , upstream = Fairfax Bridge , upstream signs = ''(demolished)'' , downstream =

Buck O'Neil Bridge The Buck O'Neil Bridge is a triple arch bridge that spans the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. It first opened for traffic September 9, 1956 as the Broadway Bridge. It was built at a cost of $12 million. It was a to ...

, downstream signs = Bridges in Kansas City, Kansas Buildings and structures in Platte County, Missouri Transportation in the Kansas City metropolitan area Bridges over the Missouri River Bridges completed in 1957 Road bridges in Missouri Road bridges in Kansas U.S. Route 69 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Buildings and structures demolished in 2017 Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States

History

See also

References