Jefferson Barracks Bridge

Jefferson Barracks Bridge
Jefferson Barracks Bridge during the Great Flood of 1993.
Other name(s)	J.B. Bridge
Carries	6 lanes of I-255/US 50
Crosses	Mississippi River
Locale	St. Louis, Missouri and Columbia, Illinois
Design	Two tied arch bridges
Total length	3,998 feet (1,219 m)
Longest span	910 feet (277 m)
Clearance below	88 feet (27 m)
Opened	September 30, 1983 (westbound) 1992 (eastbound)
Daily traffic	63,199 (2008)
Coordinates	38°29′14″N 90°16′38″W

The Jefferson Barracks Bridge, often called the J.B. Bridge, is a pair of bridges that span the Mississippi River on the south side of St. Louis, Missouri. Both bridges are 909-foot (277 m) long steel arch bridges. The first bridge was built in 1983, the south bridge opened in 1992. A delay occurred during the construction of the second bridge when a crane dropped a section of it into the river and it had to be rebuilt.

They replaced the former steel truss bridge built in 1941 that originally carried U.S. Highway 50. It carries traffic for Interstate 255 (part of the St. Louis beltway) and U.S. Highway 50. Prior to the construction of the first bridge, river crossings in this area were made via the Davis Street Ferry in the Carondelet neighborhood of St. Louis.

The names comes from the nearby Jefferson Barracks National Cemetery, itself originally part of the large Jefferson Barracks military complex, established in 1826 and decommissioned in 1946.

See also

• List of crossings of the Upper Mississippi River