St. Louis' Eads Bridge eases back into business

ST. LOUIS -- Opened nine years before the better-known Brooklyn Bridge, St. Louis' Eads Bridge for more than a century did yeoman's work -- until age caught up with the span that ranks among the oldest Mississippi River crossings.

More than 11 years after it was closed for repairs, the 3,563-foot national landmark that once transfixed poet Walt Whitman turned 129 on Friday as America celebrated its own birthday.

On this Independence Day, officials formally reopened the bridge linking St. Louis to Illinois, although only to pedestrians and bicyclists the first couple of days. The bridge will open to motorists Monday.

Friday's rededication melded holiday fare with all the trappings of a birthday bash.

Two high school marching bands -- one from St. Louis, the other from Illinois -- met in the middle, then offered musical accompaniment to the national anthem and "God Bless America" sung by a couple of hundred members of the public who came out for the occasion.

Dignitaries included the mayors of St. Louis and East St. Louis, Ill., U.S. Sen. Kit Bond of Missouri and Missouri Gov. Bob Holden. They spoke of the bridge -- located not far from the towering Gateway Arch -- as a structural marvel also signifying the meeting of east and west.

Fifty cannon shots, one for each U.S. state, were fired from a barge on the river. Politicians wielded massive scissors for the ceremonial ribbon cutting, and a parade rolled past.

Happy birthday, and welcome back, Eads Bridge.

"Isn't this a great bridge?" East St. Louis Mayor Carl Officer said with a broad smile, drawing cheers and applause from those braving muggy temperatures already in the low 90s. "Let us go forward at this time to join, on this day, in a new revolution of spirit."

Featuring three graceful arches 100 feet above the Mississippi's surface, the bridge was closed on Dec. 15, 1991. Crews set to work ripping off the deck to install train tracks and power lines, but found that further repairs were needed.

Target dates for the span's reopening -- from late 1996 to last fall -- came and went following several delays due to, among other things, property issues, design, and complications arising from having to deal with two states' preservation agencies.

First built by self-educated engineer James Buchanan Eads, the bridge was christened July 4, 1874, in an era when steamboats ruled what Mark Twain would later dub "that lawless stream." By some accounts, the grand opening drew a remarkable 300,000 people.

In 1879, Whitman wrote of having "haunted the river every night lately, where I could get a look at the bridge by moonlight." He went on to write, "It is indeed a structure of perfection and beauty unsurpassable, and I never tire of it."

In his 1995 book "Engineers of Dreams: Great Bridge Builders and the Spanning of America," Henry Petroski -- a Duke University professor of history and civil engineering -- salutes the great bridges of America. Among them: the Eads.

Through the decades, the Eads withstood floods and accidents. On the night of April 14, 1998, a 14-barge tow being pushed upstream by a towboat struck one of the span's piers. Three loose barges drifted into the Admiral riverboat casino and about 70 people were treated for injuries.

The Bi-State Development Agency, which runs the region's Metro public transit system, has applied for a $20 million federal grant to paint the bridge and to do tuckpointing and metal work.