Members of the public and other invited guests were able to witness one of the last milestones in a $222-million project to replace the Merchants Bridge that links Missouri and Illinois near downtown St. Louis over the Mississippi River.
About 130 passengers boarded a riverboat cruise on Aug. 26 to witness history in the making as preparations continued for the third and final bridge truss to be floated into place. The installation is a final phase of the project to replace the rail artery across the river, which is one of the nation’s primary east-west rail corridors serving one of America’s largest rail hubs by car interchange volume and gross tonnage, officials say.