Amelia Earhart Bridge

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Amelia Earhart Bridge
The Amelia Earhart Bridge (taller, in background) in 2006. The lower bridge in foreground is a rail bridge.
Carries	U.S. Route 59
Crosses	Missouri River
Locale	Atchison County, Kansas and Buchanan County, Missouri
Design	Truss bridge
Longest span	419.8 feet
Total length	2,571.2 feet
Opening date	1939

The Amelia Earhart Memorial Bridge is a truss bridge over the Missouri River on U.S. Route 59 between Atchison, Kansas and Buchanan County, Missouri.

It was built in 1937-1938 by the Works Progress Administration. It was designed by Sverdrup & Parcel. The Bridge was originally named the Mo-Kan Free Bridge because it did not charge a toll (the adjacent railroad bridge served as a crossing for rail traffic as well as cars and pedestrians prior to the construction of the Free Bridge. The bridge was renamed for aviator Amelia Earhart, a native of Atchison, in 1997 to honor the centennial of her birth in Atchison, Kansas. The illumination along the trusses and xenon spotlights that shine straight up into the sky from the top of the bridge's two peaks were installed and debuted during the Amelia Earhart Centennial Celebration July 24, 1997.

The bridge has been the topic of a preservation debate on whether to replace it with a new four-lane bridge or to keep it and build a second bridge. Plan for replacement of the bridge with a new four-lane span were announced in the fall of 2007 by KDOT and MoDOT with construction slated on a new bridge for 2009-2011.