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Repair or Replace the John Coffee Memorial Bridge
Natchez Trace Parkway » Repair or Replace the John Coffee Memorial Bridge » Document List
Opened to traffic in 1964, the Parkway's John Coffee Memorial Bridge carries visitors across the Tennessee River, however the bridge has never undergone a major rehabilitation. Today, the nearly 1-mile-long bridge continues to provide access for park visitors and local communities across Alabama and allows passage of river barge traffic. The bridge, while currently safe, has exceeded its design life and is becoming structurally deficient, meaning the bridge is deteriorating due to time and limitations of the original design, and will soon be limited in load carrying capacity. The National Park Service, in coordination with the Federal Highway Administration is working together with additional state, agency, and partners to determine strategies to continue to all for future safe access across the river.