Mile 145.9 - Gramercy Bridge (Veteran’s Memorial Bridge)
145.9 Gramercy Bridge (Veteran’s Memorial Bridge)
The Veteran’s Memorial Gramercy Bridge carries LA State Highway 3213 over the Mississippi with a 3,101 foot long Continuous Steel Truss Through Deck. On the river, main channel traffic uses the 750 foot wide center “channel span.” Paddlers can use the narrower spans West Bank (RBD) or East Bank (LBD) in the presence of freighters, tugs, tows or other traffic. The Grammercy Bridge has an average vertical clearance of 164 feet. Prior to 1964, there were only two cities with highway bridges over the Mississippi River on the lower 350 miles of the great river. The need for traffic to cross the river was largely met by a series of ferry crossings, some of which are private ventures, and others that are state operated. The state of Louisiana wishes to replace many of these ferry crossings with highway bridges, but progress is slow. A ferry boat tragedy in 1976 that claimed 78 lives brought national attention to the problem. The I-310 Hale Boggs Memorial Bridge was built directly as a result of the ferry accident, and this bridge at Gramercy followed a decade later. (John Weeks)