Eads Bridge - View this location on map This three span, ribbed steel arch bridge (1874), with an overall length of 6,442' and a clearance of 50 above high water, rests on piers that rise 193' (east) and 113' (west) from bedrock. It was designed and built by Captain James B. Eads (1820-1887), who utilized an innovative cantilever support to produce spans larger than any previously constructed. The largest bridge of its time, it linked railroads running east from St. Louis, Illinois, with those going west from St. Louis, Missouri. Spans the Mississippi River between Missouri and Illinois, St. Louis (Independent City), Missouri Historical

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