George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge

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Coordinates: 38°15′49.20″N, 85°45′05.83″W

George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge
The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge as seen from Louisville Waterfront Park
Carries	4 lanes of US Route 31
Crosses	Ohio River
Locale	Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana
Design	Cantilever bridge
Longest span	819.6 feet
Total length	5,746.5 feet
Width	38.0 feet
Opening date	1929
Coordinates	38°15′49″N, 85°45′05″W

The Clark Memorial Bridge during Thunder Over Louisville

The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge is a four-lane cantilever bridge crossing the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana, carrying US 31. It was designed by Paul Philippe Cret of Philadelphia, and construction began in June 1928 by the American Bridge Company of Pittsburgh at a cost of $4.7 million. It opened to the public in October 31, 1929, then called the Louisville Municipal Bridge and operated as a toll bridge. The toll was 35 cents until December 31, 1936, when it became a quarter. The bonds that financed the construction were finally paid off in 1946, and the tolls were removed. In 1949, the bridge was renamed in honor of George Rogers Clark, recognized as the founder of Louisville. The bridge was rehabilitated in 1958.

There was a movement in the 1950s to bring back the tolls, as the bridge had reached peak capacity and funding was needed for an additional bridge, however a toll was opposed strongly by most residents. Ultimately most of the funding for two additional automobile bridges, carrying interstate highways, would come from the federal government.

Locally, it is also known as the Second Street Bridge, as Louisville's Second Street leads directly to the bridge. This has never been a formal title, however. There is a pedestrian sidewalk on each side of the bridge, and as of 2006 is the only regional Ohio River bridge open to non-motorized traffic.

It was placed on the National Register of Historic Places on March 8, 1984. Since 1991, the bridge has been used as "ground zero" for the annual Thunder Over Louisville event, when a waterfall of fireworks flows along the entire length of the bridge during the fireworks show.

The bridge is featured in a scene from the 1981 movie Stripes in which Bill Murray drives his cab to the middle of the span, gets out of the vehicle and then tosses his keys into the river below.^[1]