(Old) Chain of Rocks Bridge

My mother grew up in St. Louis, so every summer we headed south from Chicago on Route 66 for a week of visiting relatives. Crossing the one-mile long Chain of Rocks Bridge over the Mississippi River was definitely a highlight of the drive. In the mid-1960s Route 66 was replaced by Interstate 55 (in Illinois) and Interstate 270 (the New Chain of Rocks Bridge), and the old bridge was abandoned. It turns out it was too expensive to demolish, so it remained, and in 1998 was turned over to a local group to renovate and operate. You can get all the details from Wikipedia. Once I learned that it was possible to walk or bike over the old bridge, I had to make the trip!

The eastern portion of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge as seen from I-270 on the New Chain of Rocks Bridge.

The New Chain of Rocks Bridge (as seen from the old bridge) is an unremarkable modern highway bridge. No one even calls it "New Chain of Rocks Bridge", it's just the "I-270 bridge".

Entering the Illinois (east) side of the bridge. It's really difficult to imagine that this narrow roadbed carried heavy two-way traffic, including trucks.

The most notable feature of the bridge is the 22° bend in the middle, allowing for easier navigation through treacherous currents and around two water intake towers that supplied water to St. Louis.

The bend.

It's not apparent at first, but the roadbed rises significantly to the middle of the bridge.

The St. Louis skyline is visible downstream.

The two water intake towers just downstream of the bridge. These predate the bridge and made the "Chain of Rocks" stretch of the Mississippi River tricky to navigate, especially so after the bridge was built. Eventually, the Army Corps of Engineers built an 8.4 mile long canal to bypass the hazards.