The Hugh Rowe Thomas Bridge is a six-lane,

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge de ...

spanning the

Black Warrior River The Black Warrior River is a waterway in west-central Alabama in the southeastern United States. The river rises in the extreme southern edges of the Appalachian Highlands and flows 178 miles (286 km) to the Tombigbee River, of which the Bl ...

along

U.S. Route 43 U.S. Route 43 (US 43) is a north–south United States Highway in the Southern United States, Southern states of Alabama and Tennessee. It travels from Prichard, Alabama, to Columbia, Tennessee. The highway's southern terminus is in Pr ...

and

Alabama State Route 69 State Route 69 (SR 69) is a state highway that extends from the southwestern to the northeastern parts of the U.S. state of Alabama. The southern terminus of the highway is at an intersection with SR 177 at Jackson. The northern terminus of the ...

, connecting downtown

Tuscaloosa Tuscaloosa ( ) is a city in and the seat of Tuscaloosa County in west-central Alabama, United States, on the Black Warrior River where the Gulf Coastal and Piedmont plains meet. Alabama's fifth-largest city, it had an estimated population of 1 ...

and Northport in

Tuscaloosa County Tuscaloosa County is a county in the northwest-central portion of the U.S. state of Alabama and is the center of commerce, education, industry, health care, and entertainment for the region. The county's population was 227,036 as of the 2020 c ...

Alabama (We dare defend our rights) , anthem = "Alabama (state song), Alabama" , image_map = Alabama in United States.svg , seat = Montgomery, Alabama, Montgomery , LargestCity = Huntsville, Alabama, Huntsville , LargestCounty = Baldwin County, Al ...

, that opened in 1974. The bridge is split in Tuscaloosa to accommodate two major, one-way thoroughfares (Lurleen Wallace Boulevard North and South), before joining together heading towards Northport. It replaced a lift bridge that was built in 1922 and demolished in 1973. As of 2008, the average daily traffic count for the bridge is approximately 68,400 vehicles. This is one of four vehicular bridges spanning the Black Warrior in Tuscaloosa. The KCS Railroad (formerly the M&O Railroad) trestle crosses the river nearby and is visible from the bridge. The bridge was named in honor of Alabama State Representative Hugh Rowe Thomas who was killed in a car wreck in April 1967 while traveling to Montgomery for a special session. He had been elected in 1966 and was just 33 years old. Thomas was one of three children of famed

University of Alabama The University of Alabama (informally known as Alabama, UA, or Bama) is a Public university, public research university in Tuscaloosa, Alabama. Established in 1820 and opened to students in 1831, the University of Alabama is the oldest and la ...

football coach Frank Thomas and wife Frances Rowe.

References

{{coord, 33.21447, -87.57379, display=title Bridges completed in 1974 Transportation in Tuscaloosa, Alabama Bridges over the Black Warrior River Transportation buildings and structures in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama Road bridges in Alabama U.S. Route 43 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Girder bridges in the United States

See also

References