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DeutschMerchants Bridge
Merchants Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The bridge in 2025 | |
| Coordinates | 38°40′29″N 90°11′10″W / 38.67472°N 90.18611°W |
| Carries | Freight and passenger traffic Union Pacific, BNSF, Amtrak |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois |
| Official name | Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge |
| Owner | Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Steel truss bridge |
| Total length | 2,490 feet (760 m) |
| Longest span | 520 feet (160 m) |
| Clearance above | 83 feet (25 m) |
| Capacity | 70 trains per day[1] |
| Rail characteristics | |
| No. of tracks | 2 |
| History | |
| Opened | 1889 |
| Rebuilt | 2022 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 32.3 trains per day (as of 2014[update])[2] |
| Location | |
 | |
The Merchants Bridge, officially the Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge, is a rail bridge crossing the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois. The bridge is owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. It opened in May 1889 and crosses the river 3 miles (5 km) north of the Eads Bridge.[3]
History
[edit]
The bridge was originally built by the St. Louis Merchants Exchange after it lost control of the Eads Bridge it had built to the Terminal Railroad. The Exchange feared a Terminal Railroad monopoly on the bridges but it would eventually lose control of the Merchants Bridge also.
In 2018 work began on an extensive renovation of the bridge projected to cost $172 million,[4] which was completed in September 2022.[1] The project involved completely replacing the three main bridge spans, and encasing the masonry piers to seismically retrofit them.[5]
Prior to the reconstruction, the bridge's capacity was roughly 32 trains per day, with only one train traveling at 5 miles per hour able to cross the bridge at a time. Following the renovation, the capacity was 70 trains per day, with two trains able to pass each other simultaneously at up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h).[1][6] In addition, the allowable train width increased from about 13.5 ft (4.1 m) to 15 ft (4.6 m), and the railcar weight capacity increased from 286,000 lb (130,000 kg) to 315,000 lb (143,000 kg). The final cost of the project was $222 million.[5]
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ a b c "Merchants Bridge reopens after four-year $222M project". FOX 2. September 15, 2022. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
- ^ Missouri Department of Transportation (2017). The Merchants Bridge rehabilitation program (PDF) (Grant application). Figure 10: Rail Traffic Volumes Overlaid with Seismic Hazard, 2014.
- ^ Primm, James Neal (1981). Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764-1980. Boulder, CO: Pruett Publishing Company. p. 311. ISBN 978-1-883982-25-6.
- ^ "St. Louis' Merchants Bridge to receive $172-million renovation, privately funded". St. Louis Public Radio. July 13, 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Mannion, Annemarie (March 18, 2024). "ENR Midwest owner of the year: Aging railroad bridges replaced in St. Louis". Engineering News-Record. ISSN 0891-9526.
- ^ Schlinkmann, Mark. "Replacement of 132-year-old St. Louis rail bridge nears completion". STLtoday.com. Retrieved November 1, 2022.
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