Skip to main content

Frisco Bridge (Memphis, TN)

Image
By

 

The lower Mississippi River is lined with important landmarks that help trace the history and development of civil engineering across the Mississippi Delta. One such example is the Frisco Bridge, which spans the lower Mississippi River at Memphis, TN. Built in 1892, this was the first bridge attempted and completed across the lower Mississippi (and the first completed on the river south of St. Louis) and its completion ushered in a new era of expansion and prosperity for the railroads of the southern United States.

Construction of the bridge commenced in 1888, with the Kansas City, Fort Scott, and Memphis Railway serving as the principal client railroad. The entire structure stretches about one mile in length and features a steel truss superstructure about ½ mile long with its longest span over the river being 790 ft. It was one of America’s longest steel bridges at the time and it demonstrated that large-scale projects on imposing waterways like the lower Mississippi River were in fact possible. The bridge’s deck is 30 ft wide and carries a single railroad track. In addition, spacious walkways on either side of the track enabled the bridge to handle a limited amount of pedestrian and wagon traffic back in the day, provided there were no trains in the vicinity. This arrangement was one of the conditions insisted on by Memphis-area investors interested in accommodating as many modes of transport as possible.

The new Memphis Bridge cost about $3 million to build and it carried its first train on May 12, 1892. The KCFS&M Railroad operated on the bridge until it was acquired by the St. Louis – San Francisco Railway in 1901. This railroad, known nationally as the “Frisco” railroad, gave their name to the Memphis Bridge shortly thereafter and the name has applied ever since. (This became important to distinguish this bridge from its neighboring structures as more bridges were built across the river in the ensuing decades.) The SLSF Railroad was absorbed into what is now the Burlington Northern – Santa Fe Railroad in 1980 and that railroad is the primary carrier that uses the bridge today.

The huge success of what became known as the “Great Bridge at Memphis” led to the planning and construction of other railroad bridges on the lower Mississippi River in the ensuing decades. It also led railroad planners to begin considering the construction of a second bridge at Memphis, as the amount of traffic using the bridge overwhelmed its single track within only a few years. This parallel bridge was completed just upriver in 1916 as the Harahan Bridge, which itself continues to carry rail traffic over the river more than 100 years after its construction. Upon the completion of the Harahan Bridge, all non-railroad traffic was banned from the Frisco Bridge and this has remained the case ever since.

The chief engineer of the “Memphis Bridge” project was George S. Morison, a civil engineer who was well known in the late 19th Century mainly for the many railroad bridges he oversaw the construction of, particularly along the Missouri, Ohio, and upper Mississippi Rivers. The completion of the Memphis Bridge represented his single greatest achievement and the fame and notoriety that went along with it led to him serving as the President of the American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) and being appointed by President William McKinley to the Isthmian Canal Commission in 1898. This group led the initial feasibility studies for the construction of a canal connecting the Pacific Ocean with the Caribbean Sea. Morison was instrumental in influencing the Commission’s finding that the canal be built across Panama as opposed to neighboring Nicaragua. The rest, as they say, is history.


George S. Morison (1842-1903)

The Frisco Bridge remains a very active railroad bridge today as it serves in tandem with the adjacent Harahan Bridge to handle all cross-river rail traffic in the Memphis area. The bridge was designated as a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1987. In recent years, the character of this bridge has changed somewhat, not necessarily for the better. The western approach trestle, which had consisted of 52 individual spans that totaled about ½ mile long, was completely replaced in a project that concluded in 2017. This utilitarian structure is a far cry from the intricate appearance of its predecessor; however, this massive project was undertaken with the aim of extending the useful life of the bridge and ensuring that it will be a viable river crossing for at least the next few decades. In that respect, I cannot argue with the goal of the project and am glad to see that this bridge will continue to be a key piece of the transportation puzzle in the region for years to come.

The following photos from my May 2019 visit to the Frisco Bridge showcase various vantage points from ground level on the Mississippi Riverfront in Memphis, TN. Notice the proximity of the Harahan Bridge immediately upriver and the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge immediately downriver. Click on each photo to see a larger version.

The following photos from my February 2023 visit to the Frisco Bridge showcase various vantage points from ground level on the Mississippi Riverfront in West Memphis, AR. Notice the proximity of the Harahan Bridge immediately upriver and the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge immediately downriver. Click on each photo to see a larger version.

The following aerial photos from my visits to the Frisco Bridge showcase various views of the bridge and its surroundings along the Mississippi River. Notice the proximity of the Harahan Bridge immediately upriver and the Memphis & Arkansas Bridge immediately downriver. Click on each photo to see a larger version.

The Frisco Bridge was featured in the "Bridges of the Lower Mississippi River" webinar on the 'roadwaywiz' YouTube channel, beginning at the 30:20 mark:

How To Get There:

Further Reading:
Frisco Bridge at historicbridges.org
Frisco Bridge by John Weeks

Bridges, Crossings, and Structures of the Lower Mississippi River
Next Crossing upriver: Harahan Bridge/"Big River Crossing" (Memphis, TN)
Next Crossing downriver: Memphis & Arkansas Bridge (Memphis, TN)
Visit the Mississippi River Bridges of Memphis Overview Page
Return to the Bridges of the Lower Mississippi River Home Page
__________________________________________________

Labels:
Location: Memphis, TN, USA

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 101 and California State Route 41 through Paso Robles

By
Paso Robles is a city located on the Salinas River of San Luis Obispo County, California.  As originally configured the surface alignments of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 converged in downtown Paso Robles.  US Route 101 originally was aligned through Paso Robles via Spring Street.  California State Route 41 entered the City of Paso Robles via Union Road and 13th Street where it intersected US Route 101 at Spring Street.  US Route 101 and California State Route 41 departed Paso Robles southbound via a multiplex which split near Templeton.   Pictured above is the cover of the September/October 1957 California Highways & Public Works which features construction of the Paso Robles Bypass.  Pictured below is the 1935 Division of Highways Map of San Luis Obispo County which depicts US Route 101 and California State Route 41 intersecting in downtown Paso Robles.   Part 1; the history of US Route 101 and California State Route 41 i...
Post a Comment
Read more