George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge

The George Rogers Clark Memorial Bridge is a four-lane cantilevered truss bridge crossing the Ohio River between Louisville, Kentucky and Jeffersonville, Indiana, that carries US 31. It is known locally as the Second Street Bridge.HistoryIt was designed by Ralph Modjeski and Frank Masters with architectural details handled by Paul Philippe Cret of Philadelphia, and construction began in June 1928 by the American Bridge Company of Pittsburgh at a cost of $4.7 million. President Herbert Hoover dedicated the bridge. It was opened to the public on October 31, 1929 as the Louisville Municipal Bridge and operated as a toll bridge. The toll was 35 cents until December 31, 1936, when it became a quarter. The last of the bonds that financed the construction were redeemed in 1946, and the tolls were removed.On January 17, 1949, the bridge was renamed in honor of George Rogers Clark, recognized as the founder of Louisville.The bridge was rehabilitated in 1958.Muhammad Ali threw his gold medal from the 1960 Rome Olympics into the Ohio river while standing on the bridge.There was a movement in the 1950s to restore tolls, as traffic on the bridge had reached capacity and funding was needed for an additional bridge, but a toll was opposed strongly by most residents. Ultimately most of the funds for two additional bridges (for motor vehicles only) that carry interstate highways came from the federal government.