{{Use American English|date=January 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox Bridge | bridge_name = Pony Express Bridge | image = Pony Express Bridge 2025a.jpg | image_size = 300px | caption = The bridge in 2025 | official_name = Pony Express Bridges | also_known_as = | carries = {{jct|country=USA|US|36}} | crosses = Missouri River | locale = Elwood, Kansas and St. Joseph, Missouri | maint = Missouri Department of Transportation | id = | design = Twin Girder bridge | mainspan = | length = | width = | clearance = | below = | traffic = | open = 1983 | closed = | toll = | map_cue = | map_image = | map_text = | map_width = | coordinates = {{Coord|39.7488|-94.8597|type:landmark_region:US-MO|display=inline,title}} | lat = | long = }}

The '''Pony Express Bridge''' is a highway girder bridge over the Missouri River connecting Elwood, Kansas with St. Joseph, Missouri on U.S. Route 36 (US 36). The bridge is referred to in signage as "Pony Express Bridges" because there are separate bridges for east- and westbound traffic.

It was built in 1983 at a cost of $33 million to replace an older bridge built in 1929 and demolished in 1984. The older bridge was also known as the "Pony Express Bridge", although it also bore the name "Free Bridge". A construction supervisor and a government highway inspector were both killed in separate accidents during the construction of the 1983 bridge.<ref name="johnson 1995">{{cite news |last1=Johnson |first1=Sean P. |title=Bridges Helped Make History |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/562949003/?match=1&clipping_id=173637393 |work=St. Joseph News-Press |date=November 5, 1995}}</ref>

The bridge is near the historic Pony Express stables at the latter's eastern terminus in St. Joseph. US&nbsp;36 to Marysville, Kansas is designated the ''Pony Express Memorial Highway'' because it follows the route.{{cn|date=June 2025}} The western footings of the bridge are on the historic family property of Johnny Fry, the "official" first west-bound rider of the Pony Express.<ref>{{cite news |last1=Filbert |first1=Preston |title=3 of Pony Rider Fry's Descendants Meet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/image/562884040/?clipping_id=173637918 |work=St. Joseph News-Press |date=April 1, 1994 |page=1}}</ref><ref>{{cite news |title=Fry's Descendants Meet |url=https://www.newspapers.com/article/st-joseph-news-press/84303749/ |last=Filbert |first=Preston |work=St. Joseph News-Press |date=April 1, 1994 |page=6}}</ref>

==See also== *List of crossings of the Missouri River

[[File:Pony-trail.jpg|thumb|California Trail and Pony Express Trail designations at entrance to Pony Express Bridge|left]]

==References== {{reflist}}

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{{Crossings navbox |structure = Crossings |place = Missouri River |bridge = Pony Express Bridge |bridge signs = 20px |upstream = St. Joseph Swing Bridge |upstream signs = |downstream = Atchison Swing Bridge |downstream signs = }}

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Category:Buildings and structures in St. Joseph, Missouri Category:Buildings and structures in Doniphan County, Kansas Category:Bridges completed in 1983 Category:Bridges over the Missouri River Category:U.S. Route 36 Category:Road bridges in Missouri Category:Road bridges in Kansas Category:Bridges of the United States Numbered Highway System Category:Girder bridges in the United States Category:Interstate vehicle bridges in the United States