NRHP: Meridian Bridge
Contents
Meridian Bridge
NRHP Reference #: 93000537
NRHP Listing Date: 19930617
Location
US Hwy 81 over MO Riv, S of Yankton, SD, Cedar County, Nebraska
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Summary
Carrying U.S. Highway 81 over the Missouri River, the Meridian Highway Bridge connects downtown Yankton, South Dakota, on the north with rural Cedar County on the south. The bridge got its name since it is part of the Meridian Highway route. In January 1920 the Meridian Highway Bridge Company retained Harrington, Howard and Ash of Kansas City, Missouri, to design a combined railroad and highway bridge, with a movable span to allow unobstructed navigation. Established in 1914 with John Harrington as senior partner, the engineering firm was especially well respected for its movable bridges. While in a previous partnership with bridge engineer John Waddell, Harrington had helped develop a major movable type, which is still known as the Waddell and Harrington Vertical Lift. The design employed a simple span equipped with machinery for operation, suspended at each end by wire ropes which pass over sheaves on towers and connect to counterweights about equal to the span weight. In their plans for the Yankton bridge, the Kansas City firm incorporated a standard Waddell and Harrington vertical-lift span. The trusses were equipped with two concrete decks: an upper level for highway traffic, and a lower level for railroad traffic. The bridge officially opened to traffic in 1924. Although the lower deck was equipped with trackage, the anticipated rail route never materialized. In 1953 the bridge's previously idle lower deck was converted into a highway lane, allowing one-way traffic on both levels.
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About the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the country’s official list of historically significant properties. To be eligible for the NRHP a property must generally retain their historic appearance, be at least 50 years old, and have the potential to be documented as historically or architecturally significant at either the local, state, or national level. The National Register of Historic Places is a National Park Service program administered by the Nebraska State Historical Society for the state of Nebraska. Visit the Nebraska State Historical Society's website to learn more about the program.
