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| Miami Bridge | |
|---|---|
Old Miami Bridge from the north | |
| Coordinates | 39°19′45″N93°13′31″W / 39.3291°N 93.2254°W Coordinates: 39°19′45″N93°13′31″W / 39.3291°N 93.2254°W |
| Carries | Route 41 |
| Crosses | Missouri River |
| Locale | Miami, Missouri |
| Other name(s) | McDaniel Memorial Bridge |
| Named for | Miami, Missouri |
| Characteristics | |
| Material | Concrete girder |
| Total length | 1304.7 feet |
| Width | 23.0 feet |
| Longest span | 474.7 feet |
| No. of spans | 11 |
| Clearance below | 16.5 feet |
| History | |
| Engineering design by | Sverdrup and Parcel |
| Constructed by | Massman Construction Company |
| Construction end | 1939 |
| Closed | October 5, 2009 |
| Replaces | Cantilever through truss bridge |
The Miami Bridge, also known as the McDaniel Memorial Bridge, is a new concrete girder bridge that was built to replace a cantilever through truss bridge over the Missouri River at Miami, Missouri between Saline County, Missouri and Carroll County, Missouri. The Miami Bridge carries Route 41. The Miami Bridge was built in 1939, and its deck was replaced in 1983 as part of a rehabilitation project. The old bridge's main cantilever span was 474.7 feet, while the two anchor spans were each 415 feet in length, resulting in a total cantilever truss length of 1304.7 feet. There were 11 approach spans, including four Warren deck truss spans, three on the northern approach and one on the southern approach. All remaining approach spans were steel stringer (multi-beam/girder) spans. Total bridge length including approach spans is 2,071.9 feet. The bridge's deck width is 23.0 feet and it has vertical clearance of 16.5 feet.
A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using cantilevers, structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end. For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed to handle road or rail traffic use trusses built from structural steel, or box girders built from prestressed concrete. The steel truss cantilever bridge was a major engineering breakthrough when first put into practice, as it can span distances of over 1,500 feet (460 m), and can be more easily constructed at difficult crossings by virtue of using little or no falsework.
The Missouri River is the longest river in North America. Rising in the Rocky Mountains of western Montana, the Missouri flows east and south for 2,341 miles (3,767 km) before entering the Mississippi River north of St. Louis, Missouri. The river drains a sparsely populated, semi-arid watershed of more than 500,000 square miles (1,300,000 km2), which includes parts of ten U.S. states and two Canadian provinces. Although nominally considered a tributary of the Mississippi, the Missouri River above the confluence is much longer and carries a comparable volume of water. When combined with the lower Mississippi River, it forms the world's fourth longest river system.
Miami is a city in Saline County, Missouri, United States. The population was 175 at the 2010 census.
The bridge was constructed with the assistance of the Federal Administration of Public Works also known as the Public Works Administration. Sverdrup and Parcel were consulting engineers for the structure, and Massman Construction Company was the contractor. The original plans for the bridge show plans for the original wooden toll building that was once located on the bridge. According to the plans, the toll building was painted white, featured wooden Slow and Stop signs, and included a cast iron stove for heating.
Public Works Administration (PWA), part of the New Deal of 1933, was a large-scale public works construction agency in the United States headed by Secretary of the Interior Harold L. Ickes. It was created by the National Industrial Recovery Act in June 1933 in response to the Great Depression. It built large-scale public works such as dams, bridges, hospitals, and schools. Its goals were to spend $3.3 billion in the first year, and $6 billion in all, to provide employment, stabilize purchasing power, and help revive the economy. Most of the spending came in two waves in 1933-35, and again in 1938. Originally called the Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, it was renamed the Public Works Administration in 1935 and shut down in 1944.
The Miami Bridge has been listed as eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. According to Clayton B Fraser who conducted Missouri's 1992 Historic Bridge Inventory, the Miami Bridge was eligible for the National Register of Historic Places as an "outstanding, large-scale example of steel truss construction, located on important great river crossing." Despite its historic significance, Missouri Department of Transportation decided against rehabilitating the bridge and instead has decided to demolish the bridge's superstructure and erect a new bridge using the piers and abutment of the old bridge. The project will begin with the bridge's closure, scheduled for October 5, 2009.
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance. A property listed in the National Register, or located within a National Register Historic District, may qualify for tax incentives derived from the total value of expenses incurred preserving the property.
The Missouri Department of Transportation is a state government organization in charge of maintaining public roadways of the U.S. state of Missouri.
