Event
Building the Eads Bridge, a 150th Anniversary Tribute
Fee:
Free.Location:
The program will be in Tucker Theater, located in Gateway Arch National Park's underground visitor center.Dates & Times
Date:
Time:
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Type of Event
Description
St. Louis's landmark bridge is turning 150 years old on July 4, 2024!
Learn more about the amazing Eads bridge and the innovations in its construction process at this series of talks by Purdue University Engineering professor and bridge historian Paul Giroux at the Gateway Arch Visitor Center's Tucker Theater.
As St. Louis, Missouri grew in size in the mid nineteenth century, so too did the need for building a bridge over the mighty Mississippi River. Without a practicable engineering solution and stalled by the Civil War, the start of construction of the Eads Bridge (then called the St. Louis Bridge) was delayed until 1867.
James B. Eads, a self-taught engineer who had never designed or built a bridge proposed a radical steel arch design to span the river with spans over 500 feet in length and clearance of 88 feet above the river. Completed in 1874, the Eads plan required the installation of the deepest bridge foundations in the world using a new technique known as pneumatic caisson installation. These caissons pre-date those of the famous Brooklyn Bridge (1883). The superstructure was constructed from steel; a relatively new material for bridges using the cantilever erection method. Eads desire to use steel for a major bridge drove innovation in the manufacturing and quality control of steel. Eads and his engineering team had to develop many innovative solutions to overcome numerous obstacles during the deep foundation and superstructure construction.
The Eads Bridge is an important chapter in the history of bridge design and construction. This presentation will bring the story of the Eads Bridge to life, providing a unique learning opportunity.