Amelia Earhart Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Amelia Earhart Bridge


caption= The Amelia Earhart Bridge (taller, in background) in 2006. The lower bridge in foreground is a rail bridge.
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carries= U.S. Route 59
crosses= Missouri River
locale= Atchison County, Kansas and Buchanan County, Missouri
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design= Truss bridge
mainspan= 419.8 feet
length= 2,571.2 feet
width=
clearance=
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traffic=
open= 1939
closed=
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The Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge is a truss bridge over the Missouri River on U.S. Route 59 between Atchison, Kansas and Buchanan County, Missouri.

It was built in 1937-1938 by the Works Progress Administration. It was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel. The Bridge was originally named the Mo-Kan Free Bridge because it did not charge a toll (the adjacent railroad bridge served as a crossing for rail traffic as well as cars and pedestrians prior to the construction of the Free Bridge. The bridge was renamed for aviator Amelia Earhart, a native of Atchison, in 1997 to honor the centennial of her birth in Atchison, Kansas. The illumination along the trusses and xenon spotlights that shine straight up into the sky from the top of the bridge's two peaks were installed and debuted during the Amelia Earhart Centennial Celebration July 24, 1997.

The bridge has been the topic of a preservation debate on whether to replace it with a new four-lane bridge or to keep it and build a second bridge. Plan for replacement of the bridge with a new four-lane span were announced in the fall of 2007 by KDOT and MoDOT with construction slated on a new bridge for 2009-2011.

ee also

*List of crossings of the Missouri River

External links

* [http://www.atchisondailyglobe.com/main.asp?FromHome=1&TypeID=1&ArticleID=4396&SectionID=11&SubSectionID=36 Atchison Daily Globe profile]
* [http://www.historicbridgefoundation.com/ipages/preservation/preservation.html Historic Bridge Foundation article]

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Missouri River
bridge = Amelia Earhart Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = Rail bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = Centennial Bridge
downstream signs =