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Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge

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Carries
  
US 59

Material
  
steel

Construction started
  
1937

Total length
  
784 m

Bridge type
  
Truss bridge

Crosses
  
Missouri River

Longest span
  
527 feet (161 m)

Opened
  
1939

Body of water
  
Missouri River

Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge wwwkansascyclistcomnewswpcontentuploadsAmel

Locale
  
Atchison County, Kansas and Buchanan County, Missouri

Design
  
network tied arch bridge

Location
  
Buchanan County, Missouri, Atchison County, Kansas

Similar
  
Amelia Earhart Birthplace, Centennial Bridge, Cray Historical Home Mu, Atchison County Historical, Muchnic Art Gallery

Amelia earhart memorial bridge time lapse


The Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge is a network tied arch bridge over the Missouri River on U.S. Route 59 between Atchison, Kansas and Buchanan County, Missouri. It opened in December 2012, replacing a previous truss bridge with the same name.

Contents

Map of Amelia Earhart Bridge, Rushville, MO 64484, USA

Video demolition of amelia earhart memorial bridge


History

Plans for replacement of the old bridge with a new four-lane span with 10 foot shoulders were announced in the fall of 2007 by KDOT and MoDOT with construction slated on a new bridge for 2009–2011. The bridge was designed by HNTB.

Because of the Missouri River flood during the summer and fall of 2011, construction was stopped. Work on the bridge was started again toward the end of 2011. The bridge's arch was built on-site, rather than barged in like some tied-arch bridges, and completed on June 14, 2012. The new bridge was opened to traffic in December 2012.

Previous bridge

The previous, 2-lane, bridge was built in 1937–1938 by the Works Progress Administration. It was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel. The bridge was originally named the Mo-Kan Free Bridge because it did not charge a toll (the adjacent railroad bridge served as a crossing for rail traffic as well as cars and pedestrians prior to the construction of the free bridge). The bridge was renamed for aviator Amelia Earhart, a native of Atchison, in 1997 to honor the centennial of her birth in Atchison. The illumination along the trusses and xenon spotlights that shine straight up into the sky from the top of the bridge's two peaks were installed and debuted during the Amelia Earhart Centennial Celebration on July 24, 1997.

The bridge was the topic of a preservation debate on whether to replace it with a new four-lane bridge or to keep it and build a second bridge. The old bridge was demolished on October 9, 2013 using linear shaped charges.

References

Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge Wikipedia