Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge — Attraction in Illinois

The Bill Emerson Bridge is perhaps one of my favorite bridges. It is much stronger, safer, and far better designed. In some instances you hardly even notice that you're going over any river, even a major river like the Mississippi, because the bridge is just so wide and massive. You're definitely in for a real treat as well if you were to drive this at night, because its towers and cables are all so brightly lit up. It is sometimes even visible from way up on the northwest side of Cape; on the Illinois side it can even be seen from the junction of Highways 3 and 146 (despite this being another four miles to the east).

Not to mention I was especially glad when this bridge was finally completed back around 2003/2004. A significant improvement over the narrow, rickety, rusted, crumbling old death trap of a bridge that...

I love love love cable-stayed bridges and the Bill Emerson Memorial Bridge is an example of why. It's just beautiful. With two tall H-shaped piers similar to the Quincy Bayview Bridge (Illinois), the Great River Bridge (Iowa) and the Cochrane USA Bridge (Alabama).

This one is named for a Missouri politician who served as a US Representative from 1981 to 1996, it was completed in 2003 and has 60 feet of clearance below to the Mississippi River. It carries four lanes of Route 34 and Route 74 and IL 146 between East Cape Girardeau Illinois and Cape Girardeau Missouri.

The bridge replaced the old Cape Girardeau Bridge which was adjacent until it was demolished in 2004. There is no toll to...

A beautiful bridge, that can be said to be the symbol of Cape. It is visible from almost anywhere in Cape as well. Going down to the river it is fun to look at the water height marks on the pillars to find out how deep the water is that day. The bridge looks almost futuristic it sleek cables and rounded...