James Buchanan Eads, a self-taught engineer, designed the bridge ahead of you, completed in 1874 and carrying his name ever since. What he built changed the world. The Eads Bridge was the first bridge to cross the southern portion of the Mississippi River, the first major structure in America to use steel as its primary structural material, and a feat of engineering that many experts declared impossible before Eads proved them wrong.
The bridge's construction required workers to descend into caissons — pressurized underwater chambers — to excavate the riverbed down to bedrock. Dozens of workers died from decompression sickness, which was poorly understood at the time. Eads himself studied the disease obsessively and implemented early safety protocols, though too late for many.
When the bridge opened on July 4, 1874, President Ulysses Grant was there. To demonstrate its strength, 14 locomotives crossed simultaneously. An elephant from a traveling circus walked across — because, legend has it, elephants will not cross a structure they believe is unsafe.
The bridge stands today, carrying both Metro light rail and pedestrian traffic across the river, its three steel-arch spans as elegant now as they were 150 years ago.