Timeline Saturday 4 July 1874

Events on Saturday 4 July 1874 1

• 1874 Eads Bridge opens First major bridge across the lower Mississippi River The Eads Bridge, designed by engineer James Buchanan Eads, opened at St. Louis as the first bridge to cross the Mississippi River south of the Missouri confluence. It was among the earliest large-scale uses of steel as a primary structural material and pioneered pneumatic caisson foundations. The bridge remains in use for road and rail traffic today.