The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge, known locally as the Second Street Bridge, is a four-lane cantilevered truss bridge crossing the

Ohio River The Ohio River is a long river in the United States. It is located at the boundary of the Midwestern and Southern United States, flowing southwesterly from western Pennsylvania to its mouth on the Mississippi River at the southern tip of ...

between

Louisville, Kentucky Louisville ( , , ) is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Kentucky and the 28th most-populous city in the United States. Louisville is the historical seat and, since 2003, the nominal seat of Jefferson County, on the Indiana border ...

and

Jeffersonville, Indiana Jeffersonville is a city and the county seat of Clark County, Indiana, United States, situated along the Ohio River. Locally, the city is often referred to by the abbreviated name Jeff. It lies directly across the Ohio River to the north of Louis ...

, that carries

US 31 U.S. Route 31 or U.S. Highway 31 (US 31) is a major north–south U.S. highway connecting southern Alabama to northern Michigan. Its southern terminus is at an intersection with US 90/ US 98 in Spanish Fort, Alabama. It ...

History

Debate to build a highway bridge connecting Louisville to Jeffersonville began in 1919. Both cities and the public were in favor of building the bridge, but how to fund the project was unclear. In 1926 a ballot measure was voted down by residents which would have allowed the government to fund the bridge construction. A similar measure to fund the bridge construction with municipal insured bonds was voted down shortly after. Officials finally agreed to authorize a private company to construct the bridge using private funds, and they were granted authority to toll the bridge to recoup their investment. The bridge was designed by

Ralph Modjeski Ralph Modjeski (born Rudolf Modrzejewski; January 27, 1861 – June 26, 1940) was a Polish-American civil engineer who achieved prominence as "America's greatest bridge builder." Life He was born in Bochnia, called Galicia at the time, on Janu ...

and Frank Masters with architectural details handled by

Paul Philippe Cret Paul Philippe Cret (October 23, 1876 – September 8, 1945) was a French-born Philadelphia architect and industrial designer. For more than thirty years, he taught at a design studio in the Department of Architecture at the University of Pennsylv ...

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Since ...

. Construction of the approaches and administration buildings began in 1926, and construction of the bridge itself began in June 1928 by the

American Bridge Company The American Bridge Company is a heavy/civil construction firm that specializes in building and renovating bridges and other large, complex structures. Founded in 1900, the company is headquartered in Coraopolis, Pennsylvania, a suburb of Pitt ...

Pittsburgh Pittsburgh ( ) is a city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, United States, and the county seat of Allegheny County, Pennsylvania, Allegheny County. It is the most populous city in both Allegheny County and Wester ...

at a cost of $4.7 million. The bridge was constructed using a newly invented method. Rather than build out from the shore, the bridge was constructed from the center towards land. The new method proved successful, and was subsequently used in the construction of many other bridges including the

Oakland Bay Bridge Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Ba ...

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

a few years later. Newspapers reported two deaths during the construction of the bridge. The first worker died in 1929 after being struck by an iron crank, and a second worker died falling from the bridge and landing on a barge. President

Herbert Hoover Herbert Clark Hoover (August 10, 1874 – October 20, 1964) was an American politician who served as the 31st president of the United States from 1929 to 1933 and a member of the Republican Party, holding office during the onset of the Gre ...

dedicated the bridge at its opening. It was opened to the public on October 31, 1929 as the Louisville Municipal Bridge and operated as a toll bridge. The toll was 35 cents until December 31, 1936, when it was lowered to 25 cents. The last of the bonds that financed the construction were redeemed in 1946, and the tolls were removed. ''Note:'' This includes and Accompanying photographs. On January 17, 1949, the bridge was renamed in honor of

George Rogers Clark George Rogers Clark (November 19, 1752 – February 13, 1818) was an American Surveying, surveyor, soldier, and militia officer from Virginia who became the highest-ranking American patriot military officer on the northwestern frontier duri ...

, recognized as the founder of Louisville and neighboring Clark County, Indiana. The bridge was rehabilitated in 1958. There was a movement in the 1950s to restore tolls, as traffic on the bridge had reached capacity and funding was needed for an additional bridge, but a toll was opposed strongly by most residents. Ultimately most of the funds for two additional bridges (for motor vehicles only) that carry interstate highways came from the

federal government A federation (also known as a federal state) is a political entity characterized by a union of partially self-governing provinces, states, or other regions under a central federal government ( federalism). In a federation, the self-gover ...

Muhammad Ali Muhammad Ali (; born Cassius Marcellus Clay Jr.; January 17, 1942 – June 3, 2016) was an American professional boxer and activist. Nicknamed "The Greatest", he is regarded as one of the most significant sports figures of the 20th century, ...

threw his gold medal from the 1960 Rome Olympics into the Ohio River while standing on the bridge. The bridge was placed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

on March 8, 1984, as the Louisville Municipal Bridge, Pylons and Administration Building. In June 2010, Kentucky Governor

Steve Beshear Steven Lynn Beshear (born September 21, 1944) is an American attorney and politician who served as the 61st governor of Kentucky from 2007 to 2015. He served in the Kentucky House of Representatives from 1974 to 1980, was the state's 44th Attorn ...

and Louisville Mayor

Jerry Abramson Jerry Edwin Abramson (born September 12, 1946) is an American Democratic politician who was the 55th lieutenant governor of Kentucky. On November 6, 2014, Governor Steve Beshear announced that Abramson would step down from his position as lieute ...

announced a new $3 million streetscape improvement project directly underneath the Clark Memorial Bridge, a three-block area from Main Street to River Road, which transformed the area into a plaza. It included a new decorative lighting system under the refurbished Clark Memorial Bridge, wide sidewalks, seats, new pedestrian and festival areas, and extensive plantings, making it an inviting promenade for the recently constructed and neighboring

KFC Yum! Center The KFC Yum! Center is a multi-purpose sports arena in Downtown Louisville, Kentucky, United States. It is named after the KFC restaurant chain and Yum! Brands, the parent company of KFC. Adjacent to the Ohio River waterfront, it is located on ...

. The project was completed in time for the October 2010 opening of the arena. CARMAN provided the landscape architecture and civil engineering services for the 2010 streetscape project. The bridge was expected to see significant increases in traffic following the completion of the

Ohio River Bridges Project The Ohio River Bridges Project was a transportation project in the Louisville metropolitan area involving the reconstruction of the Kennedy Interchange (locally known as "Spaghetti Junction"), the completion of two new Ohio River bridges, and t ...

near the end of 2016. The project included repurposing the

John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge The John F. Kennedy Memorial Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cantilever bridge that carries southbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is (two spans) and the ...

, which previously carried

I-65 Interstate 65 (I-65) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the central United States. As with most primary Interstates ending in 5, it is a major crosscountry, north–south route, connecting between the Great Lakes and the Gulf ...

in both directions, for southbound traffic only; building the new

Abraham Lincoln Bridge The Abraham Lincoln Bridge is a six-lane, single-deck cable-stayed bridge carrying northbound Interstate 65 across the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. The main span is (two spans) and the bridge has a t ...

for northbound I-65 traffic; and building the Lewis and Clark Bridge to connect I-265 in the two states. The two I-65 crossings and the I-265 bridge are now tolled to pay for the project. One consultant who worked on a transportation study for the Kentucky government predicted that traffic on the bridge would increase by 25% once tolling on the other bridges started, and the mayor of Jeffersonville expressed concern about the possible effects of increased traffic on the bridge's structural integrity. These concerns were heightened by the discovery of a cracked girder and other structural issues (since repaired) during a routine 2014 inspection.

Culture

Locally, the Clark Bridge is known as the Second Street Bridge due to its direct alignment onto Second Street in Louisville. There is a pedestrian sidewalk on each side of the bridge deck. The Clark Bridge was previously the only regional Ohio River bridge open to non-motorized traffic, until the opening of the Indiana side of the nearby

Big Four Bridge The Big Four Bridge is a six-span former railroad truss bridge that crosses the Ohio River, connecting Louisville, Kentucky, and Jeffersonville, Indiana. It was completed in 1895, updated in 1929, taken out of rail service in 1968, and conver ...

to pedestrian and bicycle traffic in May 2014. Since 1991, the bridge has been used as "ground zero" for the annual

Thunder Over Louisville Thunder Over Louisville, the annual kickoff event of the Kentucky Derby Festival, is an airshow and fireworks display in Louisville, Kentucky. It is generally held each April, about two weeks before the first Saturday in May, or Derby Day. In ye ...

event, when a waterfall of fireworks flows along the entire length of the bridge during the fireworks show. This involves traffic being closed for much of the week. This is criticized as it cuts off both the only non-interstate and, prior to the Big Four Bridge reopening, the only pedestrian route between Louisville and southern Indiana, which can impact local businesses such as bicycle couriers. Closures of the Clark Bridge also cut off the only free vehicular crossing of the Ohio in downtown Louisville. The bridge is featured in a scene from the 1981 movie ''

Stripes Stripe, striped, or stripes may refer to: Decorations *Stripe (pattern), a line or band that differs in colour or tone from an adjacent surface *Racing stripe, a vehicle decoration *Service stripe, a decoration of the U.S. military Entertainment ...

'' in which

Bill Murray William James Murray (born September 21, 1950) is an American actor and comedian. He is known for his deadpan delivery. He rose to fame on ''The National Lampoon Radio Hour'' (1973–1974) before becoming a national presence on '' Saturday Nig ...

drives his cab to the middle of the span, gets out of the vehicle and then tosses his keys into the river below. File:George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge construction progress diagram Ohio River mile 604 Louisville Kentucky USA 1928 and 1929.jpg, Louisville Municipal (later G.R. Clark Memorial) Bridge construction progress diagram,

mile 604,

, USA, 1928 and 1929 File:Towboat Craig E. Philip at George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge Ohio River mile 604 Louisville Kentucky USA September 2004 file a4i018.jpg,

Towboat A pusher, pusher craft, pusher boat, pusher tug, or towboat, is a boat designed for pushing barges or car floats. In the United States, the industries that use these vessels refer to them as towboats. These vessels are characterized by a squar ...

"Craig E. Philip" upbound at George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge,

mile 604,

, USA, September 2004, file a4i018

References

* *

External links

Clark Memorial Bridge
at Bridges & Tunnels

at Louisville Art Deco {{National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Bridges completed in 1929

Clark Clark is an English language surname, ultimately derived from the Latin language, Latin with historical links to England, Scotland, and Ireland ''clericus'' meaning "scribe", "secretary" or a scholar within a religious order, referring to someone ...

Bridges over the Ohio River Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Indiana Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Kentucky National Register of Historic Places in Clark County, Indiana National Register of Historic Places in Louisville, Kentucky Monuments and memorials in Indiana Monuments and memorials in Kentucky Paul Philippe Cret buildings Bridges in Clark County, Indiana U.S. Route 31 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Former toll bridges in Indiana Former toll bridges in Kentucky Cantilever bridges in the United States Warren truss bridges in the United States

History

Culture

See also

References

External links