Mile 181.2 - Stan Musial Veteran’s Memorial Bridge (I-70)

181.2 Stan Musial Veteran’s Memorial Bridge (I-70)

The beautiful cable stay Stan Musial Veteran’s Memorial Bridge provides a new route for I-70 across the Mississippi. It was opened in February of 2014 making it the newest bridge on the Mississippi River.

The main span of the bridge is 1,500 feet in length, part of a total span of 2,803 feet and 86 feet wide. Cables stretch from the bridge deck to the tops of two A-shaped towers, which reach 435 feet above I-70. The new bridge’s main span is supported by 1,000 miles (1,600 km) of 0.6-inch-diameter (15 mm) stay-cable strand, enough for nearly two round trips from St. Louis to Chicago. 15,000 tons of structural steel are used, along with 8,600 tons of reinforcing steel. Some 90,600 cubic yards of concrete are in the foundation, deck slab, and towers. At its completion, the bridge was the third-longest cable-stayed bridge in the United States. Long distance adventurers will paddle under the John James Audubon Bridge between St. Francisville and New Roads, Louisiana, which is the longest cable stay bridge in North America.