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The Eads Bridge, Saint Louis' first bridge to cross the Mississippi River, is located at the foot of Washington Avenue in Saint Louis. The beautiful bridge was designed by James Buchanan Eads in 1874. Including the long Illinois approach, it is 6,220 feet long and is a beautiful balance of proportions, steel and masonry.

Mr. Eads proved to be a very pioneering engineer in building what is now a historical bridge in Saint Louis. Eads used chrome steel, which was still in the developmental stage. He designed the world's first steel truss spans and used pneumatic caissons to sink piers in the riverbed for the first time in the United States. He also discovered a way to build tubular-steel arched spans without falsework giving support from below. He extended them outward in both directions from the two piers so that the lengthening wings of steel remained in balance. The center span is 520 feet flanked by spans of 502 feet on either side.

The lower deck had two railroad tracks and the 54 foot wide top deck carried vehicular traffic.