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]
Merchants Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| 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 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] In September 2022 the Terminal Railroad completed the large reconstruction project, doubling the bridge's capacity from roughly 32 trains per day to 70 trains per day. Prior to the reconstruction, only one train, traveling at 5 miles per hour, could cross the bridge at a time.[1][5] Following the renovation, two trains could pass each other simultaneously on the bridge at up to 20 miles per hour (32 km/h) in speed.[5] In addition, the bridge can now handle a 15 ft train width (4.6 m), an increase from about 13.5 ft (4.1 m), and can support a railcar weight capacity of 315,000 lb (143,000 kg), an increase from 286,000 lb (130,000 kg). The final cost of the project was $222 million.[6]
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ a b "Merchants Bridge reopens after four-year $222M project". FOX 2. 2022-09-15. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ 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. 13 July 2018. Retrieved January 10, 2019.
- ^ a b Schlinkmann, Mark. "Replacement of 132-year-old St. Louis rail bridge nears completion". STLtoday.com. Retrieved 2022-11-01.
- ^ Mannion, Annemarie (March 18, 2024). "ENR Midwest owner of the year: Aging railroad bridges replaced in St. Louis". Engineering News-Record. ISSN 0891-9526.
 | This article about a specific rail bridge in the United States is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
 | This article about a bridge in Illinois is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |
| | This article about a bridge in Missouri is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. |