One of the most mismatched and impressive structures across the upper Mississippi River is the massive swing bridge at Louisiana.
The first bridge at this location was built in 1873 and featured a number of Whipple Through Trusses, along with the massive swing span.
Between 1890 and 1900, Chicago & Alton did a major overhaul of their Kansas City Line, including reconstructing this bridge completely.
The reconstruction began in 1897, and involved replacing all spans. However, two spans were built using four of the original 1873 spans, in a "twinned" configuration. These spans would later be replaced in 1945.
However, additional span replacements would be completed in 1905 and 1945.
More than likely, these spans were replaced due to some sort of incident (derailment, barge strike, etc).
As currently constructed, the bridge contains (from west to east):
6-Panel Pratt Through Truss (Built 1898)
17-Panel, 2 Span Cantilevered Through Truss Swing Span (Built 1898)
9-Panel Parker Pratt Through Truss (Built 1897)
8-Panel Parker Pratt Through Truss (Built 1897)
A Pair of 6-Panel Warren Through Trusses (Built 1945)
12-Panel Polygonal Warren Through Truss (Built 1945)
A Pair of 6-Panel Pratt Through Trusses (Built 1905)
All spans, except for the 1945 spans have pinned connections. The 1945 spans contain riveted connections. In addition, all substructures are constructed of stone, although many have been encased in concrete. These substructures date to 1873, when the previous bridge was built.
When constructed, the swing span was the largest in the world. However, it would be quickly succeeded by other structures along the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers.
This bridge is a structure that is extremely impressive, and mismatched. It clearly has a unique history to the untrained eye.
The author has ranked this bridge as being highly significant, due to the age, back story and overall scale of the structure. This type of structure should be preserved for future generations to see.
The photo above is looking from MO-79 east towards the bridge.
Both historic photos in the above series of photos were posted to Bridgehunter and are in public domain.
| Upstream | Hannibal Lift Bridge |
| Downstream | Alton Swing Bridge |