The Jefferson Barracks Bridge, officially the Jefferson Barracks Memorial Arch Bridge and locally referred to as the JB Bridge, is a pair of bridges across the

Mississippi River The Mississippi River is the main stem, primary river of the largest drainage basin in the United States. It is the second-longest river in the United States, behind only the Missouri River, Missouri. From its traditional source of Lake Ita ...

on the south side of

St. Louis, Missouri St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an Independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi River, Mississippi and the Miss ...

metropolitan area. Each bridge is long with a long arch bridge spanning the shipping channel. The northern bridge was built in 1983, and the southern opened in 1992. A delay occurred during the construction of the southern bridge when a crane dropped a section of it into the river and it had to be rebuilt. The original Jefferson Barracks Bridge was a steel truss

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

that carried

U.S. Route 50 U.S. Route 50 or U.S. Highway 50 (US 50) is a major east–west route of the U.S. Highway system, stretching from Interstate 80 (I-80) in West Sacramento, California, to Maryland Route 528 (MD 528) in Ocean City, Maryland, on the Atlantic ...

. Construction on that bridge began on August 5, 1942, and it opened two years later. A toll was charged until 1959, when the construction bonds were paid off. Prior to the construction of the original bridge, river crossings in this area were made via the Davis Street Ferry in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis. The current bridge carries traffic for both

Interstate 255 Interstate 255 (I-255) is a bypass route of I-55 in Greater St. Louis. Along with I-270, it forms a loop around the central portion of the bi-state metro area; a majority of I-255 is located on the Illinois half. It shares its southern ...

(part of the St. Louis beltway) and U.S. Route 50. However, I-255 itself was not built until a few years after the northern bridge opened in 1983. The names comes from the nearby

Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery is an American military cemetery located in St. Louis County, Missouri, just on the banks of the Mississippi River. The cemetery was established after the American Civil War in an attempt to put together a fo ...

, itself originally part of the large

Jefferson Barracks The Jefferson Barracks Military Post is located on the Mississippi River at Lemay, Missouri, south of St. Louis. It was an important and active U.S. Army installation from 1826 through 1946. It is the oldest operating U.S. military installatio ...

military complex, established in 1826 and decommissioned in 1946.

References

Road bridges in Illinois Bridges over the Mississippi River Interstate 55 Columbia, Illinois Bridges completed in 1983 Bridges completed in 1992 Bridges on the Interstate Highway System Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Bridges in Greater St. Louis Bridges in St. Louis County, Missouri Tied arch bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Monroe County, Illinois Road bridges in Missouri U.S. Route 50 Former toll bridges in Illinois Former toll bridges in Missouri 1983 establishments in Missouri 1983 establishments in Illinois Steel bridges in the United States Concrete bridges in the United States Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States {{Missouri-bridge-struct-stub

See also

References