80 year anniversary Edmund Pettis Bridge Opening on 5-24-1940

 (Wikipedia article)

"In 1935, massive flooding on the Alabama River in Selma submerged the US 80 bridge under the surge, halting all traffic between Selma and Lowndes County. The bridge, built in 1885 was constructed without taking the maximum river flood height into account. Plans already in place for a large replacement steel and concrete bridge were expedited by the Alabama Highway Department.^[38] No major changes would be made to US 80 until 1940, when the route from Society Hill to Crawford was paved and the remainder of the highway between Phenix City and Tuskegee was also undergoing paving work.^[24] Finally in 1943, the entire highway had been paved from Mississippi to Georgia.^[14] The replacement bridge over the Alabama River in Selma was completed the same year and was officially named the Edmund Pettus Bridge after the Alabama statesman and American Civil War veteran Edmund W. Pettus.

 The 1885 bridge began demolition shortly after the Edmund Pettus Bridge opened. During the opening ceremony on May 24, 1940, Pettus' daughter in law cut the ribbon to officially open the bridge to traffic. Alabama governor Frank M. Dixon, attended the ceremony as well. In total, the construction of the Edmund Pettus Bridge cost $863,000 US.^[39]"