Eads Bridge Highway Deck Reconstruction

The Eads Bridge, the first bridge to span the Mississippi River at St. Louis, was dedicated on July 4, 1874. The double deck structure is a National Historic Landmark that has carried countless horse drawn wagons, locomotives, automobiles, trucks and pedestrians. For most of its history, the Eads Bridge was owned by various railroads. The Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis operated the upper highway deck as toll bridge even after the lower rail deck was closed in 1974. The City of St. Louis acquired the bridge in 1989 and donated the lower level to be used by the community's light rail system, MetroLink. The lower rail deck was rehabilitated and re-opened in 1993 when MetroLink debuted. The upper roadway deck became structurally deficient and the bridge was closed to highway traffic in 1991 during the construction of MetroLink. The most recognizable feature of the bridge is the portion over the river, which consists of three long steel arch truss spans, as seen in Figure 1. Besides the main river spans, the historic structure consists of the West Approach, the West Arcade and the East Arcade. The Eads Bridge also includes two East Approach ramps that had been entirely replaced before the bridge was 50 years old. The historic structure is approximately 3000 feet in length while the ramps are each approximately 1000 feet long. The demolition portion of the project included removal of the existing deck and toll facilities on the historic structure and removal of the entire East Aproach ramps. After an extensive rehabilitation that began in late 1998, the highway deck was re-opened in a ceremony held July 4, 2003, 129 years after its original debut.