This bridge appears to be the mother of all steel arch bridges. The arches are 910 feet long, and they tower 182 feet above the roadway. There is unfortunately no easy way to get a profile photo of the bridge without trespassing, but these photos still show the huge size of the arches.

US-50 once crossed at this location via a steel truss through deck bridge. The first span of the I-255 bridge was completed in late 1983. The plan was to remove the old US-50 bridge, then build a second arch span identical to the first. Unfortunately, a crane accident resulted in a section of the arch for the second bridge being dropped into the river. That delayed the opening of the south span until 1992. An earlier accident delayed the opening of the first span when a cofferdam failed, and washed out a work trestle.

The bridge is named for the nearby US Army Jefferson Barracks, the major training base for the Army Of The West from 1826 through the Civil War.

The very top photo was taken from the levee on the Illinois side of the river. The two photos are taken from the last exits before crossing the river. The shot two photos above was taken from an overpass on the Illinois side. The shot directly above was taken from the roadway leading to the quarry on the Missouri side of the river.

The next five photos show a typical crossing of the Jefferson Barracks Bridge from the Illinois side heading west into Missouri.