Miami Bridge

I always hated driving over this bridge, the old bridge gave me panic attacks and the new bridge isn't too much better as it sits so high over the Missouri River,

New bridge scheduled to open Oct. 4th 3:00 PM.

The thing going up here continues to have the impression of the mondane overpass, hands down. I wish this new bridge was going up in an urban setting so it will easily blend in the other overpasses and crossings cities have. This ugly example of UCEB solidifies Nathan Hoth's essay that preservation of the Historic truss could have happened.

SO the UCEB's will continue to decimate the population of America's classic bridges. And within 50 years America will have crumbling concrete problems everywhere because UCEB's, mostly, are poorly designed "quick fixes"...

I am secretary of the Friends of Miami and we were given some old pictures of the McDaniel Bridge that was built in 1939. The pictures are dated from February 18, 1939 to November 1939. Can you give me a specific date as to when work began and ended on the bridge. If these pictures have the correct date, looks as if the bridge was built in 10 months, but we have conflicting stories here in Miami.

I read an article that work began almost immediately in December of 1938 and the bridge oficially opened in June 1940. These pictures we have show cars going back and forth on the bridge in November of 1939. Can you help me out? We have some copies of these pictures on a disc, and they are very good. (a total of 129 pictures with dates on the back of them)

Shirley

Just checked out the construction job's webcam site. I think ordinary interstate hwy overpasses have more eye appeal than THIS ugly thing going up.

Would have been nice to concider a sleek steel arch here as the forthcoming Amelia Earhart bridge. What is coming here will look like a "makeshift" slap a few beams together project that will be God awful ugly. Glasgow's span, not by much, looks ok because it uses shorter spans. THIS project will "stick out" with long ugly steel beams on old truss piers that poorly match. A "real bridge" is coming to Atchison, but, here, will be a scar.

You can keep track of the progress here:

http://oxblue.com/pro/open/modot/miami

The Miami Bridge will be closed in October 2009 and replaced in the same manner as the Glasgow Bridge.

I remember the toll booth was there in the 60s.It was on the south side.

What year was the toll taken off this bridge?

I remember when this was a toll bridge. I probably cross this bridge 20 times a week.