Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge, Cable-stayed steel road bridge in Cape Girardeau, Missouri and East Cape Girardeau, Illinois, US.
The Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is a cable-stayed steel bridge crossing the Mississippi River between Cape Girardeau, Missouri and East Cape Girardeau, Illinois. It carries four lanes of traffic and is one of the most visible river crossings in the southern part of the state.
Construction began in 1996 and the bridge opened to traffic in 2003, replacing the original Cape Girardeau Bridge built in 1928. The older structure had become too narrow for the volume of vehicles using the crossing each day.
The bridge carries the name of a congressman who championed its federal funding. His legacy remains tied to this structure that connects two states across the river.
The bridge sits at the edge of Cape Girardeau and connects Missouri Routes 34 and 74 on one side with Illinois Route 146 on the other. There is no pedestrian access, so a vehicle is the only way to cross it.
The bridge rests on two large concrete caissons buried beneath the riverbed, completely out of sight from above. Each caisson has 15 dredge wells that were used during construction to remove material and sink the foundations deep into the ground.
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