Clark Bridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Clark Bridge |
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View from West Alton, Missouri
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| Coordinates | 38°52′56″N 90°10′44″W / 38.88222°N 90.17889°W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of  US 67 |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois |
| Other name(s) | Clark Superbridge |
| Maintained by | Illinois Department of Transportation |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cable-stayed bridge |
| Total length | 4,620 feet (1,408 m) |
| Longest span | 756 feet (230 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | January 1994 |
The Clark Bridge is a really cool bridge that crosses the mighty Mississippi River. It connects West Alton, Missouri and Alton, Illinois. This bridge is named after the famous explorer William Clark, who explored much of America. It's a special type of bridge called a cable-stayed bridge, and it opened in 1994. It helps U.S. Route 67 traffic get across the river. It's also the bridge furthest north in the big St. Louis area.
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Clark Bridge: A Super Crossing
The Clark Bridge is sometimes called the Super Bridge. This is because its construction was a big deal! A TV show called Super Bridge on NOVA even showed how it was built. The show highlighted the tough challenges, especially during the Great Flood of 1993.
What is a Cable-Stayed Bridge?
The Clark Bridge is a cable-stayed bridge. This means it uses strong cables connected to tall towers to hold up the bridge deck. This design makes the bridge look very modern and sleek. It also helps the bridge be very strong and stable.
Why a New Bridge?
The new Clark Bridge cost about $85 million to build. It replaced an old Clark Bridge that was built way back in 1928. The old bridge was a truss bridge and was only about 20 ft wide (6.1 m). That's pretty narrow!
The new bridge is much wider, at about 108-foot-wide (33 m). It has two lanes of traffic going in each direction. It also has two special lanes just for bikes. This makes it much safer and easier for everyone to cross the river. The old bridge only had two lanes total.
Building the Super Bridge
Building the Clark Bridge was a huge project. It was designed by Hanson Engineers for the Illinois Department of Transportation (DOT). It was the first bridge in the United States to use a special lightweight steel design with a unique cable system.
The bridge used a lot of materials to be so strong. It needed 8,100 tons of structural steel. It also used 44,100 cubic yards of concrete. That's enough concrete to fill many swimming pools! Plus, it has over 160 miles of cable. These cables are wrapped in yellow plastic piping, which helps protect them.
Images for kids
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The Clark Bridge. View is upriver to the northwest from the Melvin Price Locks below the bridge
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Clark Bridge as seen from the Missouri side of the Mississippi
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Clark Bridge seen from the Alton Marina
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Clark Bridge at Alton, Illinois from the Missouri side.
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View of the Clark Bridge spanning the Mississippi River from the Alton, Illinois side
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Clark Bridge at night; taken from the Ellis Island Bird Sanctuary, West Alton, Missouri.
