Champ Clark Bridge

Champ Clark Bridge
The Champ Clark Bridge looking east
Carries	2 lanes of US 54
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	Louisiana, Missouri / Atlas Township, Pike County, Illinois
Maintained by	Missouri Department of Transportation
Design	Truss bridge
Total length	2,286 feet (697 m)
Width	20 feet (6 m)
Longest span	418 feet (127 m)
Opened	1928
Daily traffic	3,900
Coordinates	39°27′24″N 91°02′52″W / 39.45667°N 91.04778°W / 39.45667; -91.04778

The Champ Clark Bridge is a five-span truss bridge over the Mississippi River connecting Louisiana, Missouri with the state of Illinois. It carries U.S. Route 54 northeast to Pittsfield, Illinois, where U.S. 54 terminates.

The bridge is named after James Beauchamp Clark, a former Speaker of the House from Bowling Green, Missouri. Clark served as Speaker from 1911 to 1919.

The bridge is narrow, allowing for two lanes of traffic on a 20 feet (6 m) deck. It was built in 1928. The bridge, originally painted silver, was repainted deep green in 1983, and repaired in 1999. In 2005, the Missouri Department of Transportation again rehabbed and repainted the bridge, replacing the green color of the bridge with gray. The bridge is 2,286.4 feet (697 m) in length. The span over the main channel of the Mississippi River is 418.5 feet (128 m) in length.

See also

• List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River

References

• Missouri Department of Transportation. "Champ Clark Bridge". 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
• Baughn, James et al. "Historic Bridges of the Midwest | Champ Clark Bridge |Pike County, Missouri and Pike County, Illinois". 2006. Retrieved January 30, 2006.
• Weeks, John. "Champ Clark Bridge, Louisiana, MO". 2005. Retrieved January 30, 2006.

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  Overhead view from a Louisiana city park on top of the bluffs.

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  Another view looking east.

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  The overhead plaque.