When a Beloved Bridge Needs Replaced
Bridges can serve as more than just crucial transportation connections, but landmarks and staples of the landscape in cities. Brian Brenner, engineer essayist, reflects with a colleague on one bridge in particular that has impacted them and the impacts of new design and construction.
The Washington Bridge in Washington, Missouri, is deeply appreciated in its city and has served as cultural landmark of another generation of design. Originally constructed in 1934, it has distinctive features with its five-span design in signature steel. It is one of the few remaining historic highway bridges on the Missouri River. However after serious flaws were found, the bridge was closed.
According to Brenner, “Bridges serve not just as physical structures, but as metaphors for connecting things. In that way, bridges hold a special place in the order of civil engineering works.”
