# Cairo Rail Bridge > Mediated Wiki article. Canonical URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cairo_Rail_Bridge > Markdown URL: https://mediated.wiki/source/Cairo_Rail_Bridge.md > Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Rail_Bridge > Source revision: 1309626076 > License: Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/) {{Use mdy dates|date=April 2025}} {{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox Bridge |bridge_name= Cairo Rail Bridge |image=Cairo Rail Bridge, IL (cut).jpg |image_size=300px |caption= |official_name= |also_known_as= |carries=Single track of [Canadian National Railway](/source/Canadian_National_Railway) (formerly [Illinois Central Railroad](/source/Illinois_Central_Railroad)) |crosses= [Ohio River](/source/Ohio_River) |locale= [Wickliffe, Kentucky](/source/Wickliffe%2C_Kentucky) and [Cairo, Illinois](/source/Cairo%2C_Illinois) |maint= |id= |design= Simple [truss bridge](/source/truss_bridge), with steel [trestle](/source/Trestle_bridge) approaches |mainspan={{convert|518.5|ft|abbr=on}} |length={{convert|20461|ft|abbr=on}} (including approaches) |width= |clearance=|below= |traffic= |open=October 29, 1889, rebuilt 1949-1952 |closed= |toll= |map_cue= |map_image= |map_text= |map_width= | coordinates = {{coord|37.023056|N|89.175556|W|display=inline,title|type:landmark}} |}} '''Cairo Rail Bridge''' is the name of two bridges crossing the [Ohio River](/source/Ohio_River) near [Cairo, Illinois](/source/Cairo%2C_Illinois), in the United States. The original was an 1889 [George S. Morison](/source/George_S._Morison_(engineer)) through-truss and deck [truss bridge](/source/truss_bridge), replaced by the current bridge in 1952. The second and current bridge is a through-truss bridge that reused many of the original bridge [piers](/source/Pier_(architecture)). As of 2018, trains like the ''[City of New Orleans](/source/City_of_New_Orleans_(train))''{{cite web|url=http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/routeguidecityofneworleans.pdf|archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20090205230757/http://www.amtrak.com/pdf/routeguidecityofneworleans.pdf|archivedate=2009-02-05|title=City of New Orlean - Route Guide|website=Amtrak|year=2004}} travel over the Ohio River supported by the same piers whose construction began in 1887. ==Original bridge== thumb|left|The Cairo Rail Bridge as it appeared in 1892 On July 1, 1887, construction began on the first [caisson](/source/Caisson_(engineering)) for the foundations of the bridge piers. The first caisson descended into the riverbed at a rate of around {{convert|4|in}} per day. Two men died and several more were seriously injured sealing the first caisson at a depth of {{convert|77|ft}}. Despite increased precautions following the deaths, a total of five men died of [decompression sickness](/source/decompression_sickness) during construction. February 19, 1889, the last pier was completed. The first train crossed the bridge from Illinois to Kentucky on October 29, 1889. Work continued until it was turned over to the railroad on March 1, 1890. Total cost of the structure exceeded [$](/source/USD)2.6 million, with nearly [$](/source/USD)1.2 million for the substructure alone. In order to comply with regulations meant to allow steam boat travel on the Ohio, the bridge was required to be {{convert|53|ft}} above the river's high-water mark. This resulted in the structure extending nearly {{convert|250|ft}} from the bottom of the deepest foundation to the top of the highest iron work. The bridge, substructure and [superstructure](/source/superstructure) weighed 194.6 million pounds (88,270 t), excluding the approaches. On October 31, 1895, a [magnitude 6.6 earthquake](/source/1895_Charleston_earthquake) on the [New Madrid Seismic Zone](/source/New_Madrid_Seismic_Zone) with an epicenter at [Charleston, Missouri](/source/Charleston%2C_Missouri), cracked a pier on the bridge. The quake is the biggest quake since the [1812 New Madrid earthquake](/source/1812_New_Madrid_earthquake) which at 8.3 was the biggest recorded quake in the [contiguous United States](/source/contiguous_United_States).{{Cite web |url=https://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/states/events/1895_10_31.php |title=Historic Earthquakes: Near Charleston, Mississippi County, Missouri - usgs.gov - Retrieved August 27, 2009 |access-date=2017-08-28 |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120707135000/http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/states/events/1895_10_31.php |archive-date=2012-07-07 |url-status=dead }} thumb|150px|left|Confluence of the Mississippi and Ohio Rivers at Cairo, Illinois. The railroad bridge is located top center in the photograph.Cairo bridge's two {{convert|518.5|ft|abbr=on}} main spans were the longest pin-connected [Whipple truss](/source/Truss_bridge) spans ever built. Pier IX, the largest, alone weighed {{convert|11000|ST}}. At the time, the bridge was the largest and most expensive ever undertaken in the [United States](/source/United_States). At {{convert|10580|ft}}, it was the longest metallic structure in the world. Its total length was {{convert|20461|ft|abbr=on}} including wooden approach trestles. Its construction completed the first rail link between [Chicago](/source/Chicago) and [New Orleans](/source/New_Orleans) and revolutionized north–south rail travel along the [Mississippi River](/source/Mississippi_River).[https://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ne0042 Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)]. Survey number HAER NE-2. pages 221-261. ==See also== *[List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois](/source/List_of_bridges_documented_by_the_Historic_American_Engineering_Record_in_Illinois) {{clear}} ==References== {{reflist}} ==Further reading== *{{cite book | author=Cook, Richard J. | title=The Beauty of Railroad Bridges in North America -- Then and Now| publisher=[Golden West Books](/source/Golden_West_Books) |location=[San Marino, California](/source/San_Marino%2C_California) (USA) | year=1987 | isbn=0-87095-097-5}} ==External links== {{commons category}} *[https://web.archive.org/web/20120806180413/http://bridgestunnels.com/bridges/ohio-river/cairo-ohio-river-bridge-illinois-central-railroad/ Cairo Ohio River Bridge] at Bridges & Tunnels *{{HAER |survey=IL-36 |id=il0574 |title=Cairo Bridge}} *{{HAER |survey=NE-2 |id=ne0042 |title=Nebraska City Bridge |link=no}} includes information about the Cairo Rail Bridge * [http://gis.hpa.state.il.us/hargis/PDFs/300098.pdf Illinois Central Railroad Bridge]{{Dead link|date=November 2018 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }} at Illinois Historic Sites Inventory * [http://bridgehunter.com/il/alexander/cairo-rr-first/ Historic Bridges of the United States (original bridge)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115062801/http://www.bridgehunter.com/il/alexander/cairo-rr-first/ |date=2006-11-15 }} * [http://bridgehunter.com/il/alexander/cairo-rr/ Historic Bridges of the United States (second bridge)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20061115064943/http://www.bridgehunter.com/il/alexander/cairo-rr/ |date=2006-11-15 }} {{Crossings navbox |structure = Bridges |place = [Ohio River](/source/Ohio_River) |bridge = Cairo Rail Bridge |bridge signs = ''Canadian National Railway'' |upstream = [Metropolis Bridge](/source/Metropolis_Bridge) |upstream signs = ''Canadian National Railway'' |downstream = [Cairo Ohio River Bridge](/source/Cairo_Ohio_River_Bridge) |downstream signs = 20px 20px 21px }} {{KentuckyHistoricalRR}} Category:Canadian National Railway bridges in the United States Category:Bridges completed in 1889 Category:Railroad bridges in Illinois Category:Railroad bridges in Kentucky Category:Bridges over the Ohio River Category:Historic American Engineering Record in Illinois Category:Illinois Central Railroad Category:Cairo, Illinois Category:Bridges in Alexander County, Illinois Category:Whipple truss bridges in the United States Category:Iron bridges in the United States Category:1889 establishments in Kentucky Category:1889 establishments in Illinois --- Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Cairo Rail Bridge](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Rail_Bridge) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cairo_Rail_Bridge?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.