The Lecompton Road Bridge is a two-lane

girder bridge A girder bridge is a bridge that uses girders as the means of supporting its deck. The two most common types of modern steel girder bridges are plate and box. The term "girder" is often used interchangeably with "beam" in reference to bridge d ...

over

Kansas River The Kansas River, also known as the Kaw, is a meandering river in northeastern Kansas in the United States. It is potentially the southwestern most part of the Missouri River drainage, which is sometimes in turn the northwesternmost portion of ...

Lecompton, Kansas Lecompton (pronounced ) is a city in Douglas County, Kansas, Douglas County, Kansas, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population of the city was 588. Lecompton, located on the Kansas River, was the ''de jur ...

, connecting to the nearby town of

Perry Perry or pear cider is an alcoholic beverage made from fermented pears, traditionally in England (particularly Gloucestershire, Herefordshire, and Worcestershire), parts of South Wales, France (especially Normandy and Anjou), Canada, Austral ...

. The current bridge, opened in 1970, is the second bridge at this location. Prior to 1898, travel across the Kansas River at Lecompton could only be accomplished by ferry. However, the fluctuations in the river level made the ferry difficult to operate, and in February 1897, the

Kansas Legislature The Kansas Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Kansas. It is a bicameral assembly, composed of the lower Kansas House of Representatives, with 125 state representatives, and the upper Kansas Senate, with 40 state sen ...

authorized

Douglas Douglas may refer to: People * Douglas (given name) * Douglas (surname) Animals * Douglas (parrot), macaw that starred as the parrot ''Rosalinda'' in Pippi Longstocking * Douglas the camel, a camel in the Confederate Army in the American Civil ...

and

Jefferson Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer) * Jefferson (singer) or Geoff Turton (born 1944), British s ...

counties to construct a bridge. Construction of the bridge proceeded quickly, and the new bridge was completed in February 1899, with a "bridge celebration" held on June 7. The bridge was damaged due to floods in 1903, 1905, and 1908. In 1910, an

ice jam Ice jams occur when the ice that is drifting down-current in a river comes to a stop, for instance, at a river bend, when it contacts the river bed in a shallow area, or against bridge piers. Doing so increases the resistance to flow, thereby in ...

took out three spans on the north side. The spans were subsequently raised and restored, with the bridge re-opening in 1911. After the flood of 1951, traffic was restricted on the bridge. By 1965, the bridge was considered too dangerous for school buses to cross, so students had to cross on foot. Work on the current bridge began in November 1968. The old bridge was razed in 1969, and the current bridge was opened in September 1970. The bridge deck was replaced in 2007.

References

Bridges over the Kansas River Road bridges in Kansas Girder bridges in the United States Buildings and structures in Douglas County, Kansas Buildings and structures in Jefferson County, Kansas {{Kansas-bridge-struct-stub