Dedicated:  May 23, 2006
SPONSOR:  Ray & Nancy Neilsen

THE MISSISSIPPI RIVER SUNSET AT VICKSBURG 
"One of America's Most Beautiful Sunsets"

Probably one of the most picturesque views of Vicksburg is that of the two bridges over the Mississippi River.  The first bridge was constructed between 1927 and 1930 at a cost of $6.5 million.    

The bridge was, at that time, the only bridge across the river between Memphis and New Orleans. The steel cantilever bridge is 7500 feet between the approaches with a total length of 2.89 miles.  

In 1963, the Mississippi Bureau of Public Roads announced that a new four-lane bridge would be build immediately south of the present bridge and world be on the interstate currently under construction.  

The new  Mississippi River bridge at Vicksburg opened for traffic on February 15, 1973.  The boats pictured with the bridges are the Motor Vessel Mississippi, owned by the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers; the U. S. Coast Guard Cutter Kickapoo; and the mid-river supply boat, the Big Valley, owned by Ergon.

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