The Clark Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge

Cable-stayed bridge

A cable-stayed bridge is a bridge that consists of one or more columns , with cables supporting the bridge deck....

 across the Mississippi River

Mississippi River

The Mississippi River is the largest river system in North America. Flowing entirely in the United States, this river rises in western Minnesota and meanders slowly southwards for to the Mississippi River Delta at the Gulf of Mexico. With its many tributaries, the Mississippi's watershed drains...

 between West Alton, Missouri

West Alton, Missouri

West Alton is a city in St. Charles County, Missouri, United States. The population was 573 at the 2000 census. It is located at the tip of the peninsula formed by the confluence of the Missouri and Mississippi Rivers.-Geography:...

 and Alton, Illinois

Alton, Illinois

Alton is a city on the Mississippi River in Madison County, Illinois, United States, about north of St. Louis, Missouri. The population was 27,865 at the 2010 census. It is a part of the Metro-East region of the Greater St. Louis metropolitan area in Southern Illinois...

. Named after explorer William Clark like the bridge it replaced, the cable-stayed bridge opened in 1994. It carries U.S. Route 67

U.S. Route 67

U.S. Route 67 is a 1,560 mile long north–south U.S. highway in the Central United States. The southern terminus of the route is at the United States-Mexico border in Presidio, Texas, where it continues south as Mexican Federal Highway 16 upon crossing the Rio Grande. The northern...

 across the river. It is the northernmost river crossing in the Saint Louis metropolitan area.

The new $85 million, 108 feet (32.9 m) replaced the old Clark Bridge

Old Clark Bridge

The Old Clark Bridge was a bridge that carried U.S. Route 67 across the Mississippi River between West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. It was constructed beginning in 1927, was replaced by the Clark Bridge and was demolished in 1994.- Notes :...

, which was only 20 ft (6.1 m). The truss bridge

Truss bridge

A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...

 was built in 1928. The new bridge carries two lanes of divided traffic in each direction, as well as two bike lanes. The old bridge carried only two lanes (similar to the upstream Champ Clark Bridge

Champ Clark Bridge

The Champ Clark Bridge is a five-span truss bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Louisiana, Missouri with the state of Illinois. It carries U.S. Route 54 northeast to Pittsfield, Illinois, where U.S. 54 terminates....

).

The bridge is sometimes referred to as the Super Bridge. Its construction was featured in a NOVA documentary entitled Super Bridge, which highlighted the challenges of building the bridge, especially during the Great Flood of 1993

Great Flood of 1993

The Great Mississippi and Missouri Rivers Flood of 1993 occurred in the American Midwest, along the Mississippi and Missouri rivers and their tributaries, from April to October 1993. The flood was among the most costly and devastating to ever occur in the United States, with $15 billion in damages...

. Designed by Hanson Engineers under contract to Illinois Department of Transportation (DOT), the Clark Bridge was the first in the United States in which "such a light steel-framed cable-stayed design was combined with a cable saddle type of pylon." The bridge used 8,100 tons of structural steel; 44,100 cubic yards of concrete; and more than 160 miles of cable wrapped with four acres of yellow plastic piping.

See also

• List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River
• Lewis Bridge

External links

• David Goodyear and Ralph Salamie, "The Clark Bridge", from Civil Engineering, August 1994
• "Super Bridge", PBS, Companion page for NOVA episode