Chain of Rocks Canal Bridge

The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge that carried old Route 66 from Madison, Ill., to St. Louis gets a lot of attention from roadies and tourists.

However, there also is a bridge over the Chain of Rocks Canal a couple of miles east of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. The canal was built during the 1950s to bypass the treacherous ledges and boulders just under the water’s surface near the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge. After the canal was built, barges and other water craft had a much easier time on the Mississippi River near St. Louis.

Here are Diesel Ducy’s videos at the canal bridge. You can see through the steel-mesh decking in all its terrifying glory:

Here’s footage of a barge going under the bridge:

5 thoughts on “Chain of Rocks Canal Bridge

  1. I believe it was also the “Stunt Double” for the Brooklyn Bridge in the movie “Escape From New York” starring Kurt Russell and Ernest Borgnine.

    1. The Old Chain of Rocks Bridge was used during a scene in “Escape from New York,” not the canal bridge. Also, the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge doubled as New York’s 69th Street Bridge, not the Brooklyn Bridge, according to Cinefantastique.

  2. There is a long-red traffic light at each end of the bridge. The lights have a radio antenna so a signal may be sent from one light to the other. They should install a countdown timer on the lights. Thatg would activatge when the oncoming tgraffic ligbht turns fred. But they don’t. You have to wait. They wanted a good surface for biikes, not the old steel grating, so that is why they converted one lane to a bikeway. Since Old 66 west if closed to traffic at the old Chain of Rocks Bridge, there isn’t thatuch traffic on the road so delay due to one -way traffic signal is not too significant

  3. When are you going to make video footage of the Old Chain of Rocks Bridge itself? We were on it a week ago, I remembered it as a child and how creepy the angle was. Would love to see video footage of that bridge.

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