Blanchette Memorial Bridge

Last updated

Blanchette Memorial Bridge
Blanchette-bridge.jpg
Coordinates 38°45′54″N90°28′55″W / 38.765°N 90.482°W / 38.765; -90.482
Carries10 lanes of I-70.svg I-70
Crosses Missouri River
Locale St. Louis County and St. Charles County in Missouri
Maintained by Missouri Department of Transportation
Characteristics
DesignTwin cantilever bridges
Total length1,244 m (4,083 ft)
WidthWestbound: 18.3 m (60 ft)
Eastbound: 20.7 m (68 ft)
Longest span146.3 m (480 ft)
History
OpenedWestbound: 1958
Eastbound: 1978
Rebuilt2013 westbound
Statistics
Daily traffic 153,161 (2008) [1]
Location
Blanchette Memorial Bridge

The Blanchette Memorial Bridge carries Interstate 70 across the Missouri River between St. Louis County and St. Charles County, Missouri. It is formed from a pair of twin cantilever bridges and opened in 1959, with a second bridge opened in 1979. At the bridge's crossing, the Missouri River reaches an average depth of 45 feet. It is the area's busiest bridge, handling an average of 165,000 vehicle transits per day. Construction of the first interstate highway project (under provisions of the Federal-Aid Highway Act of 1956) started west of the bridge's present location.

Contents

A sign commemorating the site of the nation's first interstate project stands next to Interstate 70 just east of the Missouri Route 94/First Capitol Drive overpass.

History

In 1979, a second span was opened due to the fact that the two laned configuration had become obsolete. The bridge was then named for French Canadian fur trader and hunter Louis Blanchette, who founded St. Charles as a post along the Missouri River; the village was the first European settlement along this waterway.

Major rehabilitations for the westbound span have been addressed to MoDot in the late 2000s. The project started with the closure of the westbound span on November 4, 2012. During the closure, westbound traffic was diverted to the freeway's east side, for three narrow lanes in each direction. The westbound bridge's old superstructure was demolished in two explosions, with the first taking place on November 18, 2012. The second and final blast was on December 4, 2012. Construction of the replacement bridge started in spring 2013, and the new bridge opened more than two months ahead of schedule in August 2013. The entire project was completed in 2014.

In spring 2020, a repair project began on both bridges, with rehabilitation of the westbound span being completed in fall 2020 and the eastbound bridge in 2022. [2]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge</span> Suspension bridge over the Mississippi River in St. Louis, Missouri, USA

The Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge is a bridge across the Mississippi River in the United States between St. Clair County, Illinois, and the city of St. Louis, Missouri. Built between April 19, 2010, and July 2013, the bridge opened on February 9, 2014. The cable-stayed bridge has a main span of 1,500 feet (460 m).

The Avenue of the Saints is a 563-mile-long (906 km) highway in the Midwestern United States that connects St. Louis, Missouri, and St. Paul, Minnesota.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri Route 364</span> State highway in eastern Missouri

Route 364, known locally as the Page Extension, the Page Avenue Freeway, the Page Expressway, or simply the Extension, is a freeway that connects St. Louis County in Maryland Heights with St. Charles County in Lake St. Louis via the Veterans Memorial Bridge over the Missouri River. The highway is a designated auxiliary state route of I-64.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Missouri Route 370</span> State highway in eastern Missouri

Missouri Route 370 (Route 370) is a freeway that connects St. Louis County with St. Charles County via the Discovery Bridge over the Missouri River. The St. Charles County segment of the freeway is signed as the Patrick J. Bray Memorial Highway while in St. Louis County it is signed as the Officer Scott H. Armstrong Memorial Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 270 (Missouri–Illinois)</span> Highway in Illinois and Missouri

Interstate 270 (I-270) makes up a large portion of the outer belt freeway in Greater St. Louis. The counterclockwise terminus of I-270 is at the junction with I-55 and I-255 in Mehlville, Missouri; the clockwise terminus of the freeway is at the junction with I-55 and I-70 north of Troy, Illinois. The entire stretch of I-270 is 50.59 miles (81.42 km).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Poplar Street Bridge</span> Bridge in and East St. Louis, Illinois

The Congressman William L. Clay Sr. Bridge, formerly known as the Bernard F. Dickmann Bridge and popularly as the Poplar Street Bridge or PSB, completed in 1967, is a 647-foot-long (197 m) deck girder bridge across the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and East St. Louis, Illinois. The bridge arrives on the Missouri shore line just south of the Gateway Arch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Martin Luther King Bridge (St. Louis)</span> Bridge in and East St. Louis, Illinois

The Martin Luther King Bridge in St. Louis, Missouri, is a cantilever truss bridge of about 4,000 feet (1,200 m) in total length across the Mississippi River, connecting St. Louis with East St. Louis, Illinois. Opened in 1951, the bridge serves as traffic relief connecting the concurrent freeways of Interstate 55, Interstate 64, and U.S. Route 40 with the downtown streets of St. Louis. It was renamed for King in 1968 after the national civil rights leader was assassinated that year.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 470 (Missouri)</span> Highway in Missouri

Interstate 470 (I-470) is a 16.72-mile (26.91 km) loop of the Interstate Highway System that links southeast Kansas City to Independence via Lee's Summit in Jackson County, Missouri. The western terminus of the freeway is at the Grandview Triangle interchange with I-49, I-435, U.S. Route 50 (US 50), and US 71 while the northern terminus is a cloverleaf interchange with I-70. The freeway travels west to east through southern Kansas City, curving toward the north at the Lee's Summit Municipal Airport and becoming concurrent with Route 291 as the highway travels north toward Independence.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New Chain of Rocks Bridge</span> Bridge in IL and Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO

The New Chain of Rocks Bridge is a pair of bridges across the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. It was constructed in 1966 to bypass the Chain of Rocks Bridge immediately to the south. It originally carried traffic for Bypass US 66 and currently carries traffic for Interstate 270. The bridge opened to traffic on September 2, 1966.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Washington Bridge (Providence, Rhode Island)</span> Bridge in Between Providence and East Providence, Rhode Island

The Washington Bridge is a series of three bridges carrying Interstate 195, US Route 6, US Route 44, and U.S. Route 1A over the Seekonk River connecting India Point in Providence to Watchemoket Square in East Providence, Rhode Island. The historic portion of the bridge dating to 1930 serves as the pedestrian crossing, and bike link to the East Bay Bike Path. The pedestrian span is also a part of the Washington-Rochambeau National Historic Trail. As of December 11, 2023, the westbound bridge is closed to all but emergency vehicles due to critical safety issues. On March 14, 2024, Governor Dan McKee announced that the westbound bridge cannot be repaired. It will remain closed for at least two years so it may be replaced.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Discovery Bridge (Missouri)</span> Bridge in St. Louis County and St. Charles County in Missouri, U.S.

The Discovery Bridge is a pair of truss bridges carrying Missouri Route 370 across the Missouri River between St. Louis County and St. Charles County, in the U.S. state of Missouri. The bridge was built between 1989 and 1992. Massman Construction built the river substructure and erected the steel girders. The St Charles pier is founded on rock. Piers 2-4 are supported by 6' diameter drilled shafts. Pier 5 on the St Louis County side is founded on Hp14-117 piling. The two trusses were fabricated by Stupp Brothers and erected approximately 500' downstream on falsework and floated into their final position after their transfer to barges. The land approaches substructure and concrete girders were built by Fred Weber. The entire deck was built by Kozney Wagner.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Daniel Boone Bridge</span> Bridges across the Missouri River

The Daniel Boone Bridge is the name for two bridges carrying Interstate 64, U.S. Route 40, U.S. Route 61 and the Avenue of the Saints across the Missouri River between St. Louis County and St. Charles County, Missouri. The older bridge, which carries westbound traffic, is a continuous truss bridge, while the newer bridge, which carries eastbound traffic, is a deck girder bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Rocheport Bridge</span> Bridge in Rocheport, Missouri

The Rocheport Interstate 70 Bridge is a four-lane(soon to be six) bridge over the Missouri River on Interstate 70 (I-70) between Cooper and Boone counties near Rocheport.

The Senator Roy Blunt Bridge is a twin continuous through arch truss bridge over the Missouri River at Jefferson City, Missouri, which carry U.S. Routes 54 (US 54) and 63 between Cole County and Callaway County. Before being officially named for former Missouri Senator Roy Blunt in 2022, the bridge was known as the Jefferson City Bridge.

The Washington Bridge is a concrete girder bridge that carries Route 47 over the Missouri River in Washington, Missouri. It replaces a cantilever truss bridge of the same name that passed between Franklin County, Missouri and Warren County, Missouri. It has also been known as the Route 47 Missouri River Bridge.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">George C. Platt Bridge</span> Bridge in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

The George C. Platt Memorial Bridge is a through truss bridge that carries PA 291 over the Schuylkill River in Southwest Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was opened to traffic in 1951, replacing a swing bridge to the south which carried Penrose Ferry Road across the river. Originally called the Penrose Avenue Bridge, it was renamed in 1979 to honor Civil War hero George Crawford Platt (1842–1912). Today, the Platt Bridge is a key arterial route which carries an average of 56,000 vehicles daily.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 70 in Missouri</span> Highway in Missouri

Interstate 70 (I-70) in the US state of Missouri is generally parallel to the Missouri River. This section of the transcontinental interstate begins at the Kansas state line on the Lewis and Clark Viaduct, running concurrently with U.S. Route 24 (US 24), US 40 and US 169, and the east end is on the Stan Musial Veterans Memorial Bridge in St. Louis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 64 in Missouri</span> Highway in the U.S. state of Missouri

Interstate 64 (I-64) passes through the Greater St. Louis area in the US state of Missouri. The entire route is concurrent with U.S. Route 40 (US 40). Because the road was a main thoroughfare in the St. Louis area before the development of the Interstate Highway System, it is not uncommon for locals to refer to the stretch of highway as "Highway 40" rather than "I-64". On December 6, 2009, the portion of the highway running through the city of St. Louis was named the Jack Buck Memorial Highway in honor of the late sportscaster.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 44 in Missouri</span> Highway in Missouri

Interstate 44 (I-44) in the US state of Missouri runs northeast from the Oklahoma state line near Joplin to I-70 in Downtown St. Louis. It runs for about 293 miles (472 km) in the state, and is the longest Interstate Highway in the state.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Lewis and Clark Viaduct</span> Viaducts that cross the Kansas River

The Lewis and Clark Viaduct are two nine span viaducts that cross the Kansas River in the United States. Designed by Waddell and Hedrick, the first viaduct, a four-lane, deck truss bridge, opened to the public on January 29, 1907, the second bridge, also of the deck truss design, opened to the public on November 12, 1962. It rises above the West Bottoms, and several sets of railroad tracks. The 1907 viaduct is notable for being the first roadway bridge to connect Kansas City, Missouri, with Kansas City, Kansas, non-stop all the way across. It is about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) long and carries Interstate 70/U.S. Route 24/U.S. Route 40/U.S. Route 169 (I-70/US 24/US 40/US 169). The I-670 Viaduct serves as a complementary to the viaduct, it was built in 1990 to the north.

References

  1. "2008 District 6 Traffic Volume and Commercial Vehicle Count Map" (PDF). MoDOT. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 14, 2010. Retrieved July 9, 2010.
  2. "Interstate 70 Blanchette Missouri River Bridge Project | Missouri Department of Transportation".