KC’s truck-eating bridge gets a new look

It is interesting to see the things people embrace when  it comes to civic honor. Whether it’s for being the birthplace of an obscure celebrity or a destination where folks can find the world’s largest version of any number of things, hometown pride is a theme that carries from coast to coast.

In Kansas City, Mo., one of those odd things bringing folks a sense of communal worth is a railroad bridge perched above Independence Avenue in the city’s Northeast side. It’s known as “The Undefeated Champ.”

Built in 1912 and standing a mere 12 feet tall, the unassuming bridge carries with it a notorious reputation of devouring any commercial vehicle brave enough to test its might. Of course, you don’t easily earn a nickname like the one it bears. According to the Kansas City Police Department, at least 40 trucks have decided to challenge The Champ since 2020. And as the name indicates, none of those brave challengers came out the victor.

Officials have gone to exhaustive efforts to warn drivers of the low clearance, to no avail. In February, the city installed warning curtains ahead of the bridge. Six days later, they were taken out by a truck that eventually smashed into it.

Sometimes, when all else fails, you have to get creative about the problem.

The Champ gets a facelift

In an aim to get the entire city behind the bridge’s truck-eating ways, officials deemed it necessary for the bridge itself to fully embrace its penchant for crumpling trailers in a single chomp.

That’s what the Northeast Kansas City Chamber of Commerce had in mind in June, when it announced it had awarded four artists each a wall of the bridge to paint murals paying homage to The Champ’s undefeated reign over the Avenue.

Fifteen artists submitted nearly 40 designs, with a panel of neighborhood representatives choosing the winners. The chamber hopes the murals will bring awareness to the bridge’s low clearance while also covering unsightly graffiti on the walls surrounding it.

Mike Elder, one of the artists commissioned by the chamber to give the bridge a facelift, said the project was more than just a clever way to pay respect to the Undefeated Champ and that he hopes the artwork can impact the community around it.

“Let’s face it, it’s ugly,” he added. “Yeah, it stops trucks, and trucks run into it, but it goes way beyond that. There’s people that live in that area. There’s people that drive through there every single day. That bridge is a landmark but also an eyesore, so this is kind of a nice combination to fix all that.”

Finding inspiration

The designs chosen to grace the four surrounding walls all highlight the bridge’s proclivity for truck-munching. Elder said his design was fairly straightforward, drawing inspiration from hot rod art and childhood tales.

“I kind of always think of any bridge as having a troll living under it,” he added. “You know, that was the kind of a thing growing up that we always thought there was a troll under bridges … This is the troll that is basically the spirit of that bridge.”

In addition to featuring a massive troll living under the bridge, Elder’s design is a nod to all things Kansas City. He noted that the size of the wall he was given for the mural – the largest of the four commissioned – made it easy to “hide small things” in the design.

“The bridge is, to me, synonymous with part of Kansas City,” he said. “I just wanted to throw in as many little things that kind of remind me of Kansas City … There’s a few nods to all sorts of things.”

The other murals also are nothing short of phenomenal. One shows a truck driving into the mouth of a giant “hungry hungry” hippo, while yet another, titled “Venus FlyTruck,” has giant truck-eating plants feasting on semis with wings.

If you were to look at the finished product, you’d think Elder was a savvy veteran when it came to using spray paint on concrete. But the project was actually his first mural.

“I probably shouldn’t even admit this. I should totally make up a better story, but I had never held one of the graffiti-style rattle cans in my hand ever, until maybe, well, a week or two ago,” he said.

Elder added that he called upon his years of painting experience, along with practicing on the cement walls of barns on his property, as he tackled the massive project.

It was a project for which he was uniquely qualified, having spent nearly a decade working in the trucking industry – selling oil, tires and heavy-duty truck parts to large carriers. Elder noted that this experience, coupled with having friends who drive truck, makes him empathize a bit with drivers who fall victim to the truck-eating bridge.

“It’s kind of fun to do something that’s not necessarily going to stop anybody from driving under the bridge, but at least if they do, they’ll have something to look at while they’re there waiting to get towed out,” he said. LL