The Fairfax Bridge and Platte Purchase Bridge were

twin Twins are two offspring produced by the same pregnancy.MedicineNet > Definition of Twin Last Editorial Review: 19 June 2000 Twins can be either ''monozygotic'' ('identical'), meaning that they develop from one zygote, which splits and forms two ...

continuous truss bridge A continuous truss bridge is a truss bridge that extends without hinges or joints across three or more supports. A continuous truss bridge may use less material than a series of simple trusses because a continuous truss distributes live loads ...

that carried on U.S. Route 69 (US 69) over the

Missouri River The Missouri River is a river in the Central United States, Central and Mountain states, Mountain West regions of the United States. The nation's longest, it rises in the eastern Centennial Mountains of the Bitterroot Range of the Rocky Moun ...

Description

The Fairfax Bridge, the older of the two, was the southbound span. It was long and had 13 spans on 15 piers. The Platte Purchase Bridge was the northbound span. Its biggest span was 465.96 feet, and it was 2552.19 feet long and had a deck width of 28.31 feet and vertical clearance of 15.02 feet. The bridge was named for the

Platte Purchase The Platte Purchase was a land acquisition in 1836 by the United States government from American Indian tribes of the region. It comprised lands along the east bank of the Missouri River and added to the northwest corner of the state of Misso ...

. At their ends were junctions connecting with Interstate 635 (I-635) in

Riverside, Missouri Riverside is a city in Platte County, Missouri, and part of the Kansas City metropolitan area in the United States. The population was 4,013 at the 2020 census. History Riverside lies on the edge of the Missouri River and was formally incorpo ...

, and the Seventh Street Trafficway in the Fairfax District of

Kansas City, Kansas Kansas City (commonly known as KCK) is the third-most populous city in the U.S. state of Kansas and the county seat of Wyandotte County. It is an inner suburb of the older and more populous Kansas City, Missouri, after which it is named. As ...

History

Fairfax Bridge alone

Ground was broken April 21, 1931, with the bridge opening on September 27, 1934, at a cost of $600,000. It was built by the Kansas City Bridge Company

Twin bridges

A second bridge was opened in 1957 to alleviate traffic concerns on the older Fairfax Bridge. The Platte Purchase Bridge carried northbound traffic, while the older span carries southbound traffic. This bridge was named for the

. At this point, the Farfax Bridge was restriped to carry two southbound lanes.

Replacement

In 2013 plans were announced for replacement of both the Fairfax Bridge and the Platte Purchase Bridge. The Fairfax Bridge was scheduled for demolition first in early 2015, with the bridge closed to all traffic on October 31, 2014, and traffic routed to the Platte Purchase Bridge. The Platte Purchase Bridge was then restricted to handling two-way traffic. The Platte Purchase bridge was set for demolition in late 2016 when the new bridge opened. The first detonation occurred on the morning of Friday, December 9, 2016, and the rest of the bridge was demolished on Thursday, January 12, 2017. The replacement bridge was formally opened by the

Missouri Department of Transportation The Missouri Department of Transportation (MoDOT, ) is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri under the guidance of the Missouri Highways and Transportation Commission (MHTC). MoDOT ...

on March 16, 2017.

References

External links

Kansas City Public Library history

{{Crossings navbox , structure = Crossings , place =

, bridge = Fairfax Bridge and Platte Purchase Bridge , bridge signs = ''(demolished)'' , upstream = Interstate 635 Missouri River Bridge , upstream signs = I-635

, downstream =

Buck O'Neil Bridge The Buck O'Neil Bridge was a triple arch bridge that spanned the Missouri River in Kansas City, Missouri, in the United States. It first opened for traffic September 9, 1956 as the Broadway Bridge. It was built at a cost of $12 million. It was ...

, downstream signs = US 169

Bridges in Kansas City, Kansas Buildings and structures in Platte County, Missouri Buildings and structures demolished in 2015 Buildings and structures demolished in 2017 Transportation in the Kansas City metropolitan area Bridges over the Missouri River Bridges completed in 1934 Bridges completed in 1957 Road bridges in Missouri Road bridges in Kansas U.S. Route 69 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System 1934 establishments in Missouri Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States 1934 establishments in Kansas