A long history for old Cairo Mississippi River bridge

Cairo, Illinois, a city surrounded by levees at the southernmost tip of the state and known as "Little Egypt" because of its namesake Egyptian city on the Nile River, is known for bridges and bridge closures at the confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio rivers.

Cairo Mississippi Bridge has carried motorists between Birds Point, Missouri, and Alexander County, Illinois along U.S. 60/62 since its founding 94 years ago, is about to be shut down for a year.

Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) announced Thursday, Sept. 14, the nearly century-old crossing will close Oct. 2, and reopen Oct. 1, 2024.

"This closure is necessary to perform major structural repairs," according to a news release from Illinois Department of Transportation and Illinois Gov. JB Pritzker.

The venerable span has a storied history.

Yesteryear

• 1929: Built as a toll bridge by American Bridge Co. and Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron, the bridge lies just west from the mouth of the Ohio River.
• 1937: A second span, Cairo Ohio River Bridge, opens to Kentucky with its western terminus 1,000 feet from the older Cairo Mississippi River Bridge.
• 1954: Cairo Mississippi's toll is removed.
• 1956: A student pilot flew twice under the bridge, skimming the river, damaging the aircraft's wings and propellers, which led to his ejection from the flight training program.
• 1978: Cairo I-57 Bridge, a four-lane arch span along Interstate 57 is completed less than 5 miles upstream from Cairo Mississippi Bridge.
• 1983: Cairo Mississippi undergoes complete reconstruction.
• 2011: Bridge was closed for 14 months until March 2012 for repairs to correct rust and other degradation.
• 2015: Bridge shut down in March for joint and beam repair and reopened in October.
• 2023: Citing "deterioration of the bridge's structural integrity and pier caps," IDOT ordered Cairo Mississippi closed to all traffic March 13 and reopened in late April.
• 2023: Cairo Mississippi to close for 13 months for "major structural repairs" beginning Oct. 2.

Cairo Mississippi's structure length is 5,184 feet long with a main span of 700 feet.

According to www.historicbridges.org, Cairo Mississippi River Bridge and Cairo Ohio River Bridge are cantilever truss bridges: "Given the staggering rate in which such bridges in the United States -- which were never overly populous to begin with -- are being demolished, the historic significance and rarity of these bridges is rapidly increasing."