Blanchette Memorial Bridge

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Blanchette Memorial Bridge

Carries	10 lanes of Interstate 70
Crosses	Missouri River
Locale	St. Louis County and St. Charles County in Missouri
Maintained by	Missouri Department of Transportation
Design	Cantilever
Longest span	146.3 m (480 ft)
Total length	1,244 m (4,083 ft)
Width	WB: 18.3 m (60 ft) EB: 20.7 m (68 ft)
AADT	165,000^[1]
Opening date	WB: 1958 EB: 1978
Maps and aerial photos

The Blanchette Memorial Bridge are two twin cantilever bridges carrying Interstate 70 across the Missouri River between St. Louis County and St. Charles County, Missouri, opened in 1959. Handling an average of 165,000 vehicle transits per day, it is the area's busiest bridge. Construction of the first interstate highway project under provisions of the Federal Aid Highway Act of 1956 started west of the bridge's present location. A sign commemorating the site of the nation's first interstate project stands next to Interstate 70 just east of the Missouri Route 94/First Capitol Drive overpass.

The bridge is named for French Canadian fur trader and hunter Louis Blanchette, who founded St. Charles as a post along the Missouri River; the village was the first European settlement along this waterway.