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[Plutonic Panda]

A new bridge will be built to replace the New Chain of Rocks Bridge and public meetings will be held.

ST. LOUIS – IDOT will host an open house meeting Wednesday detailing the plan to replace the Chain of Rocks Bridge between north St. Louis and Madison County, Illinois.

The project calls for two new twin bridges to be built side by side replacing the current Chain of Rocks Bridge that was built in 1966. It is now approaching the end of its lifespan. IDOT said as the bridge has gotten older, more repairs have become necessary, and the roadway geometrics are now sub-standard. Traffic has also increased significantly from just under 20,000 vehicles per day in 1975 to over 51,000 vehicles per day.

https://fox2now.com/news/public-meeting-on-plan-to-replace-chain-of-rocks-bridge/?fbclid=IwAR18JfF8lrJEk5YO3c09hY2iBRcn8wm8l6NqcCWEoiAZ6KVWWbULvIFjHTo

[LilianaUwU]

Will the replacement be called New New Chain of Rocks Bridge? 

[Plutonic Panda]

Will the replacement be called New New Chain of Rocks Bridge? 

The Slightly Newer New Chain of Rocks Bridge.

[Rothman]

Chain of Rocks Bridge '26

[rte66man]

Chain of Rocks Bridge '26

++1

[ARMOURERERIC]

Chain, chain, chain......chain of fools bridge.

[ilpt4u]

Will the replacement be called New New Chain of Rocks Bridge? 

Chain of Rocks Bridge 3.0
3G Chain of Rocks Bridge

[will_e_777]

Will the replacement be called New New Chain of Rocks Bridge? 

Chain of Rocks 2: Electric Boogaloo

[Rothman]

Chain of Rocks Harder

[kphoger]

Chain of Reboots Bridge

[FrCorySticha]

Chains of Love Bridge
Chain of Rock Lobster Bridge

[Fredddie]

2 Chains 2 Rockious

[Sani]

Chain of Rocks 3... This time, it's personal.

[Hobart]

They should make this one a historic bike trail too.

[US71]

http://bridgehunter.com/il/madison/bh36589/
If this is the bridge(s) in question, let them go, IMO, but make the replacements less generic looking.

[edwaleni]

Here is what it will look like.

[edwaleni]

http://bridgehunter.com/il/madison/bh36589/
If this is the bridge(s) in question, let them go, IMO, but make the replacements less generic looking.

Based on the plans laid out above, it will be just as generic as the current bridge.

The only remarkable difference I can find are:

- Less supporting pylons in total for the same distance
- Wider bridge in each direction allows for safety and shoulders.

As noted in the design, the new EB bridge will be built and split with a jersey barrier for 2 way traffic while the old span is demolished and the WB built in its place.

Since the current bridge has no shoulders and rails almost against the lane stripe today, the only thing will be the reduced speeds in the construction zone. Probably 45-50mph.

It appears for "glorious looking designs" IDOT tends to use them in city centers or for some of the smaller towns along the Mississippi. The Illinois River, less so.

This one is will be 100% utilitarian all the way with no embellishments.

[kphoger]

- Wider bridge in each direction allows for safety and shoulders.

... the current bridge has no shoulders and rails almost against the lane stripe today ...

And that's the worst thing about the existing bridge.

[edwaleni]

- Wider bridge in each direction allows for safety and shoulders.

... the current bridge has no shoulders and rails almost against the lane stripe today ...

And that's the worst thing about the existing bridge.

What is scary for me is that I have lived long enough now to see the full lifespan of the current bridge. I remember getting diverted from I-70 to then US-40 (Chain of Rocks Road) on the Illinois side while the lawsuit from the City of Madison progressed.  Then we would come off, turn right onto Riverview Drive for a half mile to exit back onto I-270. My dad and uncle used to grouse constantly about that lawsuit, but preferred the old (original COR) bridge than the MacArthur Bridge which they thought was a death trap. My uncle really got upset when just before they suspended the tolls, all of these perfectly lit Schlitz Beer signs popped up everywhere on the bridge. At the entrances, another one at the bend. He thought it was inconsistent to be advertising a beer when drunk driving awareness was just getting started. I don't think he made the connection with advertising on the bridge and the loss of tolls.

What I can't figure out is when the current COR bridge was built (1966), the old one was already 37 years old.  Built in 1929 by the City of Madison for $3M (approx $50M in 2022 dollars), municipal bonds were going at 4.2% just before the Crash. So the toll revenue couldn't pay off those bonds after 30+ years? especially in the 50's and early 60's when traffic was at its peak? My uncle, always the conspiracy guy, was convinced that the City of Madison was skimming the toll revenue and only paying the interest on the bonds. He was pretty sure that Madison was corrupt because he actually went to city hall and complained about the Schlitz signs and they told him to mind his own business.  He noted that other than paying the toll collectors, they did near zero maintenance on the bridge itself.

[SkyPesos]

It appears for "glorious looking designs" IDOT tends to use them in city centers or for some of the smaller towns along the Mississippi. The Illinois River, less so.

The St Louis area Mississippi River bridges are all IDOT projects. I didn’t know that, thought they were split between MoDOT and IDOT. Not that MoDOT is that much better building nicer looking bridges (*cough* new I-70 western and US 40/61 MO river bridges).

Then there’s the Clark Bridge on US 67; a cable stayed bridge even further out from St Louis.

[Revive 755]

^ I think the "nicer looking" bridges come about more due to the necessary span length for navigation than any aesthetic desires.

[ilpt4u]

^ I think the "nicer looking" bridges come about more due to the necessary span length for navigation than any aesthetic desires.

Don’t have to worry about that at the Chain of Rocks Bridges location, as the Chain of Rocks Canal, with Lock 27, is the navigational channel here

[edwaleni]

The original I-270 bridge over the COR Canal was a dual cantilever span:





IDOT really let it go to seed and was pretty close to crumbling until they got a new box steel span built in the the 1990's.

[edwaleni]

Here is the COR Canal span today.



This is (IMHO) will be something close to what the I-80 Des Plaines River Bridge replacement will probably look like.

[wdcrft63]

^ I think the "nicer looking" bridges come about more due to the necessary span length for navigation than any aesthetic desires.

Correct. Since the river is not navigable at COR, there wasn't a chance for anything other than a generic bridge.