Though this isn’t railroad related, the McKinley bridge was once built and operated by the Illinois Terminal Railroad until the 1970s. At one point street cars also operated along this bridge too.
More pics of the bridge can be found here.
http://www.eco-absence.org/esl/mck/index.html
By Elisa Crouch
ST. LOUIS POST-DISPATCH
06/14/2006
With four lanes closed on the Poplar Street Bridge this summer, thousands of motorists are clamoring for alternative routes from St. Louis to the Metro East area. The McKinley Bridge isn’t among them.
For years, the McKinley Bridge was synonymous with potholes, flimsy-looking guardrails and outright fear, particularly for those driving in the outer lanes.
Now the bridge is almost halfway through its $46.8 million makeover, a renovation financed substantially through federal money. Nearly everything is getting replaced, from the guardrails to the piers that secure it to the ground.
Work is on course to be finished in September of next year, said Barry Gibbs, supervising field engineer for the Illinois Department of Transportation.
Why so long?
“It was in pretty bad shape,” he said.
The McKinley was built north of the Eads Bridge in 1910 to carry trains and livestock across the Mississippi River, linking Venice with what would become an industrial area in St. Louis. Two outside lanes later were built to carry vehicles.
In 2001, the Illinois Transportation Department ordered that the bridge be closed due to severe deterioration.
When the span is suitable for traffic again, only the original three spans will remain as they were built in