The Merchants Bridge, officially the Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge, is a rail bridge crossing the
Mississippi River
The Mississippi River is the second-longest river and chief river of the second-largest drainage system in North America, second only to the Hudson Bay drainage system. From its traditional source of Lake Itasca in northern Minnesota, it fl ...
between
St. Louis, Missouri
St. Louis () is the second-largest city in Missouri, United States. It sits near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri Rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a population of 301,578, while the bi-state metropolitan area, which e ...
, and
Venice, Illinois
Venice is a city in Madison County, Illinois, United States. The population was 1,890 at the 2010 census.
History
Venice was platted in 1841.
Geography
Venice is located at (38.673796, -90.167885).
According to the 2010 census, Venice has a to ...
. The bridge is owned by the
Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. It opened in May 1889 and crosses the river north of the
Eads Bridge
The Eads Bridge is a combined road and railway bridge over the Mississippi River connecting the cities of St. Louis, Missouri and East St. Louis, Illinois. It is located on the St. Louis riverfront between Laclede's Landing, to the north, and ...
.
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. In September 2022 the Terminal Railroad completed the large reconstruction project, doubling the bridge's capacty 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.
The final cost of the project was $222 million.
See also
*
List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
This is a list of all current and notable former bridges or other crossings of the Upper Mississippi River which begins at the Mississippi River's source and extends to its confluence with the Ohio River at Cairo, Illinois.
Crossings Minnesot ...
References
Railroad bridges in Missouri
Bridges over the Mississippi River
Metro East
Bridges completed in 1889
Bridges in St. Louis
Steel bridges in the United States
Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States
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