The new Lewis & Clark Bridge was built in 1997 and 1998 to replace the historic through truss bridge built in the late 1920s. The old bridge had become obsolete as far as handling the wider and heavier traffic, and maintenance of the big metal monster was expensive. As a result, the state decided to replace the old bridge with a modern steel girder bridge.

The new bridge is purely functional. It has no decorative elements. It sits on a flat and straight segment of highway, complete with wide shoulders. One would not even know that they are crossing the mighty Missouri River if it were not for the green guide signs. That is the job of a bridge, and it does it well, but it has none of the excitement and wonder of the big metal monster that still sits only feet downstream as a monument to an era when bridges and car travel was still larger than life.