Memphis – Arkansas Bridge

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Coordinates: 35 ° 7 ′ 39 ″  N , 90 ° 4 ′ 32 ″  W.

Memphis – Arkansas Bridge
Memphis – Arkansas Bridge
In the foreground the Memphis – Arkansas Bridge , behind it the Frisco Bridge and the Harahan Bridge
Official name Memphis – Arkansas Memorial Bridge
use I-55.svg Interstate 55 and
U.S. Highway US 61.svgUS 64.svgUS 70.svgUS 79.svg
Crossing of Mississippi River
place West Memphis , Arkansas and Memphis , Tennessee
construction Truss bridge
overall length 1592 m
Longest span 241 m
opening 1949
planner Modjeski and Masters
location
Memphis – Arkansas Bridge (Tennessee)
Memphis – Arkansas Bridge

The Memphis – Arkansas Bridge , also Memphis & Arkansas Bridge , is a four-lane road bridge over the Mississippi River between West Memphis in Arkansas and Memphis in Tennessee . It runs along Interstate 55 and US Highways 60 , 64 , 70 and 79 .

Besides the Hernando de Soto Bridge ( Interstate 40 ), it is the only road connection over the Mississippi River in Memphis, with both bridges being operated jointly by both states. The respective average traffic volume on both bridges is around 50,000 vehicles per day. In the immediate vicinity of the Memphis – Arkansas Bridge , two more railway bridges cross the river at this point, the Frisco Bridge and the Harahan Bridge .

history

From 1917 the Harahan Bridge over the Mississippi was the first regular road link between Memphis and Crittenden County (Arkansas) . The railway bridge had a four meter wide carriageway on cantilever girders on the outside. This made it almost impossible to overtake and broken down vehicles blocked traffic. In the 1930s it was already part of several US highways and the daily traffic volume rose to over 10,000 vehicles, which regularly led to traffic jams at peak times .

Since 1939 the Memphis and Arkansas Bridge Commission campaigned for the construction of a new road bridge, the completion of which was delayed until 1949 due to the entry of the USA into World War II . In 1944, the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) and the Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) awarded the contract to build a four-lane bridge to the Modjeski and Masters company, whose founder Ralph Modjeski, who died in 1940, was already building the Frisco Bridge and Harahan Bridge was involved. Work began in August 1945, but due to material shortages, the bridge could not be opened to traffic until December 17, 1949.

The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001 (NRHP #: 01000139).

description

Driveway onto the bridge towards West Memphis, Arkansas.

The basic structure of the truss bridge is based on the older railway bridges in order not to restrict the existing openings for ship traffic. The four river pillars were built around 50 meters downstream behind the river pillars of the Frisco Bridge and the trusses were erected at the same height above the river. Modjeski and Masters selected under the direction of Frank M. Masters also for the design of the main bridge a Gerber beam of steel , in a slightly different configuration than the railway bridges. With a total length of 861 m, it extends from the abutment on the Memphis side to the fifth bridge pier on the Arkansas bank, with spans of 109.5 m, 240.9 m, 189.3 m, 189.3 m and 132, 0 m. As with the other two bridges, the longest span was achieved by means of an approximately 130-meter-long suspension beam .

On the main bridge close to the Arkansas side of two 132.6-meter Warren - truss with lying down the road, as well as two shorter overhead roadway at (53.6 m and 52.9 m). The conclusion is formed by the 19 girder bridges of the approach over the floodplain of the Mississippi, with a total length of 358.9 m. This results in a length of 1591.7 m between the abutments for the entire bridge. The bridge has a width of 19.8 m with a lane width of 15.8 m and has a cantilevered area for pedestrians on the outside.

literature

Web links

Commons : Memphis-Arkansas Bridge  - collection of pictures, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

  1. Interstate 40 Hernando DeSoto Bridge. ( September 15, 2017 memento on the Internet Archive ) Tennessee Department of Transportation.
  2. ^ A b c d Martha Carver: Tennessee's Survey Report for Historic Highway Bridges. Tennessee Department of Transportation, 2008, p. 574 f.
  3. ^ A b Kara Mills: Memphis and Arkansas Bridge - National Register of Historic Places Registration Form. National Park Service, 2001.