When built in 1892, this bridge was the first bridge built using the new open-hearth method of fabricating steel. It is the middle of three truss bridges over the Mississippi River south of Memphis, so it is REALLY TOUGH to get a photo that does justice to its lacy beauty.
Ninety-five years later in 1987, the American Society of Civil Engineers designated this bridge as a Historic National Civil Engineering Landmark.
From Wikipedia: (
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"Frisco Bridge
The Frisco Bridge, previously known as the Memphis Bridge, is a cantilevered through truss bridge carrying a rail line across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee.
Construction
At the time of the Memphis bridge construction, it was a significant technological challenge and is considered to be chief engineer George S. Morison's crowning achievement. No other bridges had ever been attempted on the Lower Mississippi River.
The bridge is built entirely of open-hearth steel, a newly developed material at the time of construction. The structure features a 790 foot main span and two additional 600 foot spans. Its 65 foot height above the water was the highest clearance of any U.S. bridge of that era. The construction of the piers went nearly 100 feet below the water's surface.
Though some sources claim two cantilevered roadways were added to the bridge in the 1930s, one on each side, they probably confuse this bridge with the neighboring Harahan Bridge, which had two cantilevered roadways from 1917 until the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge opened in 1949. Today, the Harahan Bridge still has the metal remains of its cantilevered roadways; the Frisco Bridge does not. However, pedestrians, buggies, and some automobiles used the main deck of the Frisco Bridge before the Harahan Bridge opened (the bridge was closed to such traffic while a train was crossing).
Construction for the Kansas City, Fort Scott and Memphis Railroad began in 1888 and was completed May 12, 1892. In the end the project created a bridge that was the farthest south on the Mississippi River, featured the longest span in the United States and cost nearly 3 million dollars.
A testament to its design and construction, as of 2014 the bridge is still used by BNSF Railway. The bridge is listed as a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark."
From bridgehunter.com: (
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"Overview
Cantilevered through truss railroad bridge over the Mississippi River at Memphis
Location
Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee, and Crittenden County, Arkansas
Status
Open to railroad traffic
History
Completed May 12, 1892, under the direction of engineer George S. Morison
Builders
- A & P Roberts Co. of Pencoyd, Pennsylvania
- Alfred Noble of Stockholm, Sweden
- Baird Brothers
- Carnegie, Phipps & Co.
- Elmira Bridge Works
- George S. Morison of New Bedford, Massachusetts
- Keystone Bridge Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Lassig Bridge & Iron Works of Chicago, Illinois
- Lewis Moss
- New Jersey Steel & Iron Co.
- Pennsylvania Steel Co. of Steelton, Pennsylvania
- Pittsburg Steel Casting Co.
- Pittsburgh Bridge Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Ralph Modjeski of Bochnia, Poland
- Scaife Foundry & Machine Co.
- Union Bridge Co. of Buffalo, New York & Athens, Pennsylvania
Railroads
- BNSF Railway (BNSF)
- St. Louis-San Francisco Railway (SLSF)
Design
Cantilevered Baltimore through truss. This bridge was built entirely of the newly developed open hearth steel.
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 790.5 ft.
Total length: 4,887.0 ft. (0.9 mi.)
Deck width: 30.0 ft.
Also called
Memphis Bridge
Frisco Mississippi River Bridge"