Merchants Bridge

{{short description|Bridge of the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois}}

{{Infobox Bridge

| bridge_name = Merchants Bridge

| image = Merchants Bridge 2025.jpg

| image_size = 300px

| official_name = Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge

| owner = Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis

| carries = Freight and passenger traffic
Union Pacific, BNSF, Amtrak

| crosses = Mississippi River

| locale = St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois

| design = Steel truss bridge

| mainspan = {{convert|520|ft|m}}

| length = {{convert|2490|ft|m}}

| clearance = {{convert|83|ft|m}}

| below =

| capacity = 70 trains per day

| num_track = 2

| open = 1889

| rebuilt = 2022

| closed =

| map_cue =

| map_image =

| map_text =

| map_width =

| lat =

| long =

| caption = The bridge in 2025

| coordinates = {{coord|38|40|29|N|90|11|10|W|region:US_type:landmark}}

| traffic = 32.3 trains per day ({{as of|2014|lc=y}}){{cite report |type=Grant application |author=Missouri Department of Transportation |title=The Merchants Bridge rehabilitation program |year=2017 |at=Figure 10: Rail Traffic Volumes Overlaid with Seismic Hazard, 2014 |url=https://www.modot.org/sites/default/files/documents/TheMerchantsBridgeRehabilitationProgram110217Final%5B1%5D.pdf#page=15}}

}}

The Merchants Bridge, officially the Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge, is a rail bridge crossing the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois. The bridge is owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. It opened in May 1889 and crosses the river {{Convert|3|mi|km|0}} north of the Eads Bridge.{{Cite book |title=Lion of the Valley: St. Louis, Missouri, 1764-1980 |last=Primm |first=James Neal |year=1981 |publisher=Pruett Publishing Company |location=Boulder, CO |isbn=978-1-883982-25-6 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lionofvalleystlo00prim_0/page/311 311] |url=https://archive.org/details/lionofvalleystlo00prim_0/page/311 }}

History

File:TheMerchantsBridge.jpgs distinguish it from the current configuration.]]

The bridge was originally built by the St. Louis Merchants Exchange after it lost control of the Eads Bridge it had built to the Terminal Railroad. The Exchange feared a Terminal Railroad monopoly on the bridges but it would eventually lose control of the Merchants Bridge also.

In 2018 work began on an extensive renovation of the bridge projected to cost $172 million,{{cite web|url = http://news.stlpublicradio.org/post/st-louis-merchants-bridge-receive-172-million-renovation-privately-funded#stream/0 | title = St. Louis' Merchants Bridge to receive $172-million renovation, privately funded | access-date = January 10, 2019 | work = St. Louis Public Radio| date = 13 July 2018 }} which was completed in September 2022.{{Cite web |date=2022-09-15 |title=Merchants Bridge reopens after four-year $222M project |url=https://fox2now.com/news/missouri/merchants-bridge-reopens-after-four-year-222m-project/ |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=FOX 2 |language=en-US}} The project involved completely replacing the three main bridge spans, and encasing the masonry piers to seismically retrofit them.

Prior to the reconstruction, the bridge's capacity was roughly 32 trains per day, with only one train traveling at 5 miles per hour able to cross the bridge at a time. Following the renovation, the capacity was 70 trains per day, with two trains able to pass each other simultaneously at up to {{convert|20|mph}}.{{Cite web |last=Schlinkmann |first=Mark |title=Replacement of 132-year-old St. Louis rail bridge nears completion |url=https://www.stltoday.com/business/local/replacement-of-132-year-old-st-louis-rail-bridge-nears-completion/article_0c07805d-6138-5466-9169-fa7385db5812.html |access-date=2022-11-01 |website=STLtoday.com |language=en}} In addition, the allowable train width increased from about {{cvt|13.5|ft}} to {{cvt|15|ft|m|adj=mid|}}, and the railcar weight capacity increased from {{cvt|286,000|lb}} to {{cvt|315,000|lb}}. The final cost of the project was $222 million.{{cite magazine |issn=0891-9526 |magazine=Engineering News-Record |title=ENR Midwest owner of the year: Aging railroad bridges replaced in St. Louis |url=https://www.enr.com/articles/58324-enr-midwest-owner-of-the-year-aging-railroad-bridges-replaced-in-st-louis |url-access=limited |first=Annemarie |last=Mannion |date=March 18, 2024}}