Cairo Mississippi River Bridge
| Cairo Mississippi River Bridge | |
|---|---|
 |
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| Coordinates | 36°58′43″N 89°08′52″W / 36.97861°N 89.14778°WCoordinates: 36°58′43″N 89°08′52″W / 36.97861°N 89.14778°W |
| Carries | 2 lanes of   US 60 / US 62
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| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | Bird's Point, Missouri and Cairo, Illinois |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Cantilever bridge |
| Total length | 5,175 feet (1,577 m) |
| Longest span | 701 feet (214 m) |
| Clearance below | 114 feet (35 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | 1929 |
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The Cairo Mississippi River Bridge is a type of cantilever bridge known as a Steel Truss Through Deck carrying U.S. Route 60 and U.S. Route 62 across the Mississippi River. Located in the tri-state area of Illinois, Kentucky, and Missouri, it connects Cairo, Illinois at its northern terminus to Bird's Point, Missouri at its southern terminus. The bridge was most recently closed for renovation from March 16, 2015 to October 13, 2015.
The bridge measures 5,175.5 feet (1,577.5 meters) in length with a main span of 700.9 feet (213.6 meters) and a width of 20 feet (6.1 meters). At its apex, the bridge stands 114 feet (35 meters) above the river with a 675-foot (206-meter) navigation channel and a river depth of 279 feet (85 meters).
At the start of the Civil War in 1861, this area was the southern extreme of American land in which slavery was prohibited (other than the two disjoint portions of California and Kansas). On April 15, 1865, the morning after the assassination of Abraham Lincoln, the steamboat Sultana was docked near Fort Defiance where 12,000 Union troops were stationed. Less than two weeks later the steamboat, carrying in excess of 2,000 released Union prisoners of war, exploded near Memphis en route back to Cairo, remaining the deadliest ship disaster in American history. In 1876, famed novelist Mark Twain described this vicinity as a "dismal swamp" in his classic novel The Adventures of Tom Sawyer.
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