The Marion Memorial Bridge was a 4-span metal

truss A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as Beam (structure), beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so ...

bridge that formerly carried

U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 41, also U.S. Highway 41 (US 41), is a major north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs from Miami, Florida, to the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. Until 1949, the part in southern Florida, from Naples to Miam ...

Marion County, Tennessee Marion County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 28,837. Its county seat is Jasper. Marion County is part of the Chattanooga, AL– TN– GA Metropolitan Statistical Area. Marion Co ...

over the

Tennessee River The Tennessee River is a long river located in the Southern United States, southeastern United States in the Tennessee Valley. Flowing through the states of Tennessee, Alabama, Mississippi, and Kentucky, it begins at the confluence of Fren ...

and

Nickajack Lake Nickajack Lake is the reservoir created by Nickajack Dam as part of the Tennessee Valley Authority. The lake stretches from Nickajack Dam to Chickamauga Dam, passing through the city of Chattanooga. The Tennessee River Gorge, commonly referred t ...

. It was built in 1929. The main span was , and the bridge had a total length of . The bridge was listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

on October 25, 2007. The bridge featured an unusual truss configuration that is a hybrid of the Parker and K-Truss configurations. The bridge was replaced by a new concrete and box girder span that opened in November 2014, slightly delayed from its target completion date of August 2013 by conditions encountered in the construction of the replacement bridge footings. Since the construction of the new bridge's footings involved blasting within of the Marion Memorial Bridge, state officials closed the bridge to vehicle and pedestrian traffic on January 9, 2012, with traffic being re-routed to the

Interstate 24 bridge The Interstate 24 Bridge may refer to one of two distinct bridges on Interstate 24. Illinois-Kentucky The Interstate 24 Bridge is a two-span tied arch bridge that carries I-24 across the Ohio River. Built in 1973, it is in length and has tw ...

south of the span. The metal trusses of the bridge were demolished and removed by June 2015. The bridge was delisted from the National Register in June 2016. Some people in the community expressed the desire to preserve the bridge in some way.

Tennessee Department of Transportation The Tennessee Department of Transportation (TDOT) is the department of transportation for the State of Tennessee, with multimodal responsibilities in roadways, aviation, public transit, waterways, and railroads. It was established in 1915 as the ...

officials said the bridge was costly to maintain, citing as an example the repainting cost of $1 million. This bridge was built before the construction

Nickajack Dam Nickajack Dam is a hydroelectric dam in Marion County in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is one of nine dams on the Tennessee River owned and operated by the Tennessee Valley Authority, which built the dam in the mid-1960s to replace the outdated ...

, a few miles downriver. The higher mean pool of the new

reservoir A reservoir (; ) is an enlarged lake behind a dam, usually built to water storage, store fresh water, often doubling for hydroelectric power generation. Reservoirs are created by controlling a watercourse that drains an existing body of wa ...

necessitated raising the bridge from its original height. A bridge of similar design in

Meigs County, Tennessee Meigs County is a county located in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 census, the population was 12,758. Its county seat is Decatur. It is a component of the Athens, Tennessee Micropolitan Area. History Before 1819, the area th ...

, that carried Tennessee Highway 58 across the

Hiwassee River The Hiwassee River is a river in the states of Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia, North Carolina, and Tennessee. It originates from a spring on the north slope of Rocky Mountain (Georgia), Rocky Mountain in Towns County, Georgia, Towns County in n ...

was imploded in November 2007,''

Chattanooga Times Free Press The ''Chattanooga Times Free Press'' is a daily broadsheet newspaper published in Chattanooga, Tennessee, and is distributed in the metropolitan Chattanooga region of southeastern Tennessee and northwestern Georgia. It is one of Tennessee's majo ...

''
Bridge on National Register
, November 4, 2007 along with another similar bridge that carried Highway 58 over the Tennessee River in Roane County.

References

External links

Historic Bridges of Michigan and Elsewhere: Marion Memorial Bridge
- Photos and information for the Marion Memorial Bridge. {{National Register of Historic Places Bridges over the Tennessee River Buildings and structures in Marion County, Tennessee Monuments and memorials in Tennessee Bridges completed in 1929 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee U.S. Route 41 U.S. Route 72 Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System National Register of Historic Places in Marion County, Tennessee Former National Register of Historic Places in Tennessee Truss bridges in the United States Metal bridges in the United States Parker truss bridges in the United States

See also

References

External links