There are several bridges over the Mississippi River that are shared between automobile and railroad traffic. There are double-deck bridges such as the bridges in the Quad Cities, Fort Madison, Keokuk, and Saint Louis. There are also those where the traffic lanes were hung off the side of the bridge, such as the two Huey Long bridges (Baton Rouge and New Orleans) and the Harahan Bridge in Memphis. But in this case, the highway and railroad tracks run side by side through the truss structure. That is unique on the lower Mississippi River. It must have been thrilling to meet both a train and oncoming traffic on those narrow 9 foot wide lanes. Old timers report that trucks would ride their tires on the railing and still smack their mirrors against oncoming trucks from time to time. Automobile drives would often speed across the bridge to avoid being on the structure at the same time as a train.

While the bridge closed to automobile traffic in 1998, it still supports railroad traffic. The small town of Delta, Louisiana, was left with a 6 mile detour to get to Vicksburg when the highway lanes were closed. At the moment, the locals are trying to decide if they should repair the roadway and reopen the bridge, leave it closed, or develop it into a linear park much like the Chain Of Rocks Bridge in Saint Louis. Residents on the west side of the river would like to reopen the bridge, but the local highway department does not want to allow traffic on the bridge due to the narrow lanes.

The Vicksburg bridge is situated in the river much like the Humphreys Bridge in Greenville, Mississippi. The structure is located just downstream from a sharp curve where the river recently changed course. A similar cross-current and the convergence of the Yazoo River combine to make this the most challenging Mississippi River bridge to navigate. As an example, two different barge tows stuck the bridge on the weekend of April 5th and 6th in 2008. The collision on April 5, 2008, resulted in several barges becoming disconnected from the two and drifting downstream. The April 6, 2008 incident saw 19 barges being scattered when the tow struck the main bridge pier on the east side of the navigation channel. As a result, the US Coast Guard restricted barges to running in single file when passing under the bridge during that period when the river levels were high.

Shortly after the bridge was built, an underwater landslide caused the first two piers on the east side of the river crossing to shift in position. As a result, the metal truss structure leans just slightly on that end of the bridge.

The Mississippi River has an interesting history near Vicksburg. The city was the last major fortress to holdout on the great river for the Confederate States of America during the Civil War. The city commanded a high view over the river preventing the Union Army from moving past Vicksburg, and the vast swamps in the area prevented the Union Army from flanking the city. General Grant attempted to cut a new diversion canal to reroute the Mississippi River away from the city so it could be bypassed. This effort failed, but the Union eventually prevailed when it took on those swamps. Later, the river picked a new channel during a flood, leaving Vicksburg high and dry. Only the very southernmost part of town still faced the river. It was desired to restore water to the city waterfront, but moving the Mississippi River back to its old channel was beyond the technology of the day. An idea was formulated to divert the Yazoo river, which flowed into the Mississippi upstream of Vicksburg, dumping its water into the old river channel upstream of Vicksburg. This rerouted the Yazoo River past Vicksburg, restoring the waterfront to the historic city.

Note—there are two other Mississippi River bridges where trains and automobiles share the same right of way, the McKinley Bridge in Saint Louis (prior to its renovation in the mid-2000s) and the Minnesota Highway 115 Bridge near Camp Ripley, Minnesota.

The photo above is a view looking west towards the south face of the Old Vicksburg Bridge from the riverbank on the Mississippi side of the river. The photo below is a view looking directly west at the bridge portal on the Mississippi side of the river. While the railroad track remains straight and level when exiting the bridge, the highway deck veers off to the north and climbs a modest grade to reach the top of the river bluffs.

These two photos are views of the toll booth on the Mississippi side of the river. The photo above is the tool booth as seen from the approach road. The photo below is a close view of the structure. Both views are looking west towards the river crossing.

The photo above is a view looking west down the automobile deck entrance road from the east side of the river crossing. The entrance was blocked with a chain link fence at the time of this visit late 2005. The photo below is the bridge plate. The 1947 date is the year that the bridge was purchased by Warren County, Mississippi.