Merchants Bridge

The Merchants Bridge, officially the Merchants Memorial Mississippi Rail Bridge, is a rail bridge crossing the Mississippi River between St. Louis, Missouri, and Venice, Illinois. The bridge is owned by the Terminal Railroad Association of St. Louis. It opened in May 1889 and crosses the river 3 mi north of the Eads Bridge.

The bridge was originally built by the St. Louis Merchants Exchange after it lost control of the Eads Bridge it had built to the Terminal Railroad. The Exchange feared a Terminal Railroad monopoly on the bridges but it would eventually lose control of the Merchants Bridge also.

In 2018 work began on an extensive renovation of the bridge projected to cost $172 million. In September 2022 the Terminal Railroad completed the large reconstruction project, doubling the bridge's capacity from roughly 32 trains per day to 70 trains per day. Prior to the reconstruction, only one train, traveling at 5 miles per hour, could cross the bridge at a time. Following the renovation, two trains could pass each other simultaneously on the bridge at up to 20 mph in speed. In addition, the bridge can now handle a 15 ft, an increase from about 13.5 ft, and can support a railcar weight capacity of 315,000 lb, an increase from 286,000 lb. The final cost of the project was $222 million.