New Chain of Rocks Bridge
New Chain of Rocks Bridge | |
|---|---|
New Chain of Rocks Bridge, September 2011 | |
| Coordinates | 38°45′53″N 90°10′25″W / 38.76472°N 90.17361°W |
| Carries | Four lanes of I-270 |
| Crosses | Mississippi River |
| Locale | Granite City, IL and Bellefontaine Neighbors, MO |
| Other name(s) | I-270 Mississippi River bridge |
| Maintained by | Illinois Department of Transportation |
| ID number | IL 060-0035 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Girder |
| Total length | 5,411.4 ft (1,649.4 m) |
| Width | 54.1 ft (16.5 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | September 2, 1966 Replacement channel bridge: July 11, 2014 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 51,000 |
| Location | |
The New Chain of Rocks Bridge is a pair of bridges across the Mississippi River on the north edge of St. Louis, Missouri. It was constructed in 1966 to bypass the Chain of Rocks Bridge immediately to the south. It originally carried traffic for Bypass US 66 and currently carries traffic for Interstate 270. The bridge opened to traffic on September 2, 1966.
The original Chain of Rocks Bridge was a narrow bridge with a 22 degree bend midway over the river. Reportedly, two tractor-trailers could not pass each other on that bridge. The Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) marks Historic Route 66 over the New Chain of Rocks Bridge (with a "Spur historic route" to the original), but it is only considered a way to make the route continuous.