John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge

The John Seigenthaler Pedestrian Bridge stands out as a slender steel truss span cutting across the Cumberland River with a distinct, sharp incline toward the center. Originally built as the Sparkman Street Bridge in nineteen oh nine, it once carried automobiles and streetcars between downtown Nashville and the eastern neighborhoods. Engineers designed the truss system to handle heavy industrial traffic, but by the late nineteen nineties, the structure grew too fragile for cars and closed entirely to keep the river traffic safe below.