Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge in Illinois is a four-lane bidirectional road bridge that spans the Illinois River, Illinois Route 351, Illinois and Michigan Canal, and local roads and railroads. It carries Interstate 39 (I-39), a major north-south Interstate through central Illinois, and its U.S. Route counterpart, U.S. Route 51 (US 51).

Description

The bridge crosses the river between LaSalle and Oglesby, at river mile 225.8. The structure comprises a main span over the river, flanked by 43 approach spans. It is named after Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. The main span is a through-arch design, 620 ft long. The clearance of this span over the river, from low steel of the bridge to normal water level in the pool below, is 66.0 ft. With the approach spans, the total length of the structure is 7120.8 ft. Its length makes it the longest bridge in Illinois.

History

The bridge was built in 1987 when I-39 was first extended south to what is now Illinois Route 251. The highway itself has since been extended all the way to the Bloomington–Normal area. In 2007, the bridge was rehabilitated due to the poor performance of the existing precast deck panels and the frequent surfacing of potholes. On October 31, 2008 the rehabilitation project was completed 15 days ahead of the contract requirement.