The Shippingsport Bridge historically carried traffic for U.S. Route 51 (US 51), a major north–south highway between Wisconsin and New Orleans.

I-39 featured the 1.5-mile-long (2.4 km) Abraham Lincoln Memorial Bridge just east of Shippingsport.

At that time, the old US 51 bypass was turned back to the state of Illinois and was given the designation IL 251.

[2] The bridge is named for the failed settlement of Shippingsport, Illinois, located just west of present-day Oglesby.

This resulted in the need for fewer piers, and gives the bridge a thin, graceful profile.

It somehow turned and missed the bridge, heading straight for the nearby community of Utica, Illinois.