Year(s) Listed: • 2005 |
City/Town: • Atchison |
Location Class: • Government |
Built: 1939 | Abandoned: 2012 |
Status: • Demolished (2012) |
Contributor: Kansas Preservation Alliance |
This 2600’ metal truss bridge spans the Missouri River at Atchison. It was built by the WPA in 1937. Sverdrup and Parcel Consulting Engineers of St. Louis designed the bridge. It was determined to be eligible for listing on the National Register in 2000. In 2003, the National Trust for Historic Preservation listed this bridge on its 11 Most Endangered as representative of several metal truss bridges up and down the Missouri River which have been or are being demolished.
Plans to demolish the bridge and replace it with a 4 lane, 70’ wide bridge south of the Amelia Earhart Bridge have met with resistance from residents and a proposal for rehabbing this bridge and building a 40’ wide bridge south of this treasured part of the Atchison skyline with one-way traffic on each bridge has been made.