Cold Steel The Bridges of Memphis TN Art

by Reid Callaway

Title

Cold Steel The Bridges of Memphis TN Art

Artist

Reid Callaway

Medium

Photograph - Photography

Description

Cold Steel....by Reid Callaway
Bridges Over the Mississippi River
Memphis Tennessee Art

As I approached the bridges to take this image, I had to wait for a train headed West away from me to clear the tracks before centering myself quickly and setting up for this image. Thus, the train you can barely see with a locomotive facing us... is actually going away from us down the track headed West. Or if you like, the train appears to be headed straight at us! Your choice!.... Enjoy!

Many would say that the relationship between the Mississippi River and the Bluff City is obvious, but some may not realize the obstacle that the river would be without the amazing bridges that extend from Memphis, Tennessee, to West Memphis, Arkansas. Below are facts about each of the four bridges that cross the Big Muddy.

The Memphis & Arkansas Bridge (per its nameplates), also known as the Memphis-Arkansas Bridge or Memphis-Arkansas Memorial Bridge, is a cantilevered through truss bridge carrying Interstate 55 across the Mississippi River between West Memphis, Arkansas and Memphis, Tennessee. Memphians refer to this bridge as the "Old Bridge" to distinguish it from the "New Bridge", or Hernando de Soto Bridge, upstream.

The bridge consists of five Warren through trusses, each with a length of 790 feet (240 m). Combined with the approach segments, the bridge's total length is 5,222 feet (1,592 m). Completed in 1949, it is the only bridge spanning the Mississippi River designed to carry exclusively vehicular traffic that was built before 1950. It was designed by Modjeski and Desoto, successors to the firm that designed the Harahan Bridge and built in 1916 to carry vehicular and rail traffic. The bridge was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2001.

The Frisco Bridge in the middle opened in 1892 and is 4,887 feet long and 30 feet wide.
Upon opening, the Frisco Bridge was the only bridge crossing the Mississippi River south of St. Louis. Due to specifications to maximize river navigation, the bridge featured the longest span (791 feet) in the United States when it was built. (Span is the distance between bridge supports.)

The Harahan Bridge opened in 1917 and is 4973 ft long featuring the Big River Crossing (opened Oct. 22, 2016), currently the longest public pedestrian/bike bridge across the Mississippi River. It ties together paths connecting Main Streets in Memphis, Tenn., and West Memphis, Ark.

The Hernando DeSoto Bridge opened in 1973 and is 9,432 feet long and 90 feet wide. The “M Bridge” is named by the Guiness Book of World Records as the largest free-standing letter of the alphabet in the world.
The bridge was lit 10 years later on Sept. 5, 1983, after private funds were raised to install the lights.

The Fine Art America logo will NOT appear on your purchased image.

Comments, Likes and Favorites are appreciated... ☺

Uploaded

March 3rd, 2018

Statistics

Viewed 1,443 Times  -  Last Visitor from New York, NY on 04/23/2024 at 12:57 PM

Colors

Embed

Share

Sales Sheet

Tags