Discover the oldest active bridge spanning the Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is an ancient river in the United States. Despite its name, the Mississippi flows through 10 different states. It is also the second longest river in the United States. The Mississippi River is also home to one of the oldest active bridges in the United States. Ready to discover the oldest active bridge across the Mississippi River and learn more about the river?

Across the Mississippi

The Mississippi is beautiful and attracts visitors from all over the world. Its traditional source is Lake Itasca, a small glacial lake in northern Minnesota. The river is about 8,000 feet (2,340 m) long and 11 miles long at its widest point. However, there are places in the Mississippi where the river is narrow, stretching only about 10 to 20 feet wide. At its traditional source, the river has an average depth of 3 feet. However, the deepest part of the river is 200 feet deep and is near New Orleans. This river is divided into three sections: the Upper Mississippi, Middle Mississippi, and Lower Mississippi.

Animals in the Mississippi River

The Mississippi is large and diverse. Over 120 species of fish live in the Mississippi alone. However, the types of fish you can find in the Mississippi depend on location. Some of the more common fish include pike, largemouth bass, smallmouth bass, bluegill, walleye and crappie. There are larger river monsters such as gulf sturgeon, longnose gar, paddlefish, blue catfish and alligator gar. Alligators are also common in the river basin. They prefer brackish water and swamps. Although bull sharks are not as common as alligators, they do travel through the Mississippi River.

What is the oldest active bridge spanning the Mississippi River?

The oldest active bridge spanning the Mississippi is the Eads Bridge. It connects the cities of St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. The bridge is 6,442 feet long and 46 feet wide. It carries 4 freeway lanes and 2 MetroLink tracks. The Eads Bridge is an arch bridge. Construction began in 1867 and the bridge opened in 1874. It is the first all-steel bridge in the world.

The Eads Bridge was designed and built by the Illinois and St. Louis Bridge Company and the Keystone Bridge Company. It was built as the railroads grew in importance and the river shipping industry declined. The hope was that the bridge would link railroad and vehicle transport across the river. James Eads had no bridge building experience but was chosen to be the chief engineer for the bridge. It is a technical marvel. He built an all-steel bridge that withstood strong currents of almost 12 1⁄2 feet per second and ice floes in winter.

James Eads built this active bridge for eternity. Unfortunately, many people lost their lives during the construction of this bridge. Workers used a caisson, a type of diving bell, to dig in the Mississippi River bed. However, the air pressure was increased to restrain the flow. This led to the development of decompression sickness. During the operation, 119 workers contracted symptoms and 14 died.

The oldest active bridge in the United States

The Frankford Avenue Bridge is the oldest active bridge in the United States. It was built in 1697 and is located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. The bridge was built to connect William Penn’s mansion to the new city of Philadelphia. This three span double stone arch bridge is 73 feet long. In 1803 workers were paving gravel on the bridge. In 1893 the bridge was widened for trams and again in 1950. It is also a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark and is on the National Register of Historic Places. Fun fact, George Washington, the first President of the United States, crossed the bridge en route to his first inauguration.

The oldest active bridge in the whole world

The oldest active bridge in the world is the Arkadiko Bridge in Argolis, Greece. What is impressive is that it is over 3,000 years old. This Mycenaean bridge is made of stone and is a corbelled bridge. However, the oldest existing bridge is the Bridge of Tello. It’s probably over 4,000 years old, but it’s not active. There was a recent rediscovery of the bridge in 1929 in Iraq. It was built for the ancient Sumerian city of Girsu and sat over an ancient waterway. Currently a team of British Museum archaeologists and Iraqi heritage experts

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