WATCH: Steamboat American Queen Passes Under Bridge With Inches to Spare

Watch your heads! Check out this video exhibiting the American Queen, the most important steamboat ever constructed, passing underneath the Illinois Central Railroad Bridge in Cairo, Illinois whereas southbound on the Ohio River with solely 6″ minimal clearance.

“We topped around above the bridge and backed down through it with the throttles ready to go ahead should anything go wrong,” a supply informed gCaptain. “We have several close bridges but that was the closest.”

Built in 1955 by McDermott Shipyards, the American Queen is an genuine recreation of a basic Mississippi paddle-wheeler and actually is powered by a real steam plant. The vessel is at present operated by the American Queen Steamboat Company.