The Washington Bridge is a concrete girder bridge that carries
Route 47 over the
Missouri River
The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...
in
Washington, Missouri. It replaces a
cantilever
A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is unsupported at one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a cantilev ...
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 ...
of the same name that passed between
Franklin County, Missouri and
Warren County, Missouri
Warren County is a county located in the eastern portion of the U.S. state of Missouri. As of the 2020 census, the population was 35,532. The county is located on the north side of the Missouri River. Its county seat is Warrenton. The county ...
. It has also been known as the Route 47 Missouri River Bridge.
History
The original bridge was built in 1934. Its main span was and it had a total length of and a deck width of . Its vertical clearance was . The bridge carried one lane of automobile traffic in each direction.
The Missouri Department of Transportation shut down the bridge at 7:30 am on August 11, 2007, claiming to have discovered problems during regularly scheduled inspections. As the bridge is similar to the
I-35W Mississippi River bridge which collapsed in Minnesota, locals have speculated that the inspection and closure were related to this incident. This resulted in a 60 mile (100 km) round-trip detour to the nearest open crossing over the Missouri river. The bridge was soon reopened, but was again intermittently closed in the following weeks. MoDOT eventually completed a rehabilitation project in 2008 and 2009 as a stopgap measure until funding could be identified to replace the bridge.
Construction on a replacement bridge, located just to the west of the old bridge, began in 2016. The new bridge features wider lanes, shoulders, and a pedestrian path. The new bridge opened to traffic on December 3, 2018. The old bridge was demolished by explosives on April 11, 2019.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Missouri River
References
External links
Bridgehunter.com profileMoDot site on new bridge
{{coord, 38.5579, -90.9981, type:landmark_region:US-MO, display=title
Buildings and structures in Franklin County, Missouri
Buildings and structures in Warren County, Missouri
Bridges completed in 1934
Road bridges in Missouri
Cantilever bridges in the United States
Truss bridges in the United States
1934 establishments in Missouri