for approval of the ambitious project. This plan estimated the cost at $2.6 million and would include $400,000 for wagonways along each side. Initially, developers of the Rock Island Railroad were not interested in providing vehicular access to their bridge. Newly elected Congressman Kenneth McKellar from Memphis threatened to block the bridge permit if wagonways were not included. This bill also met with opposition in the form of Democratic party leader Oscar Underwood of Alabama. Congressman Underwood's campaign manager, Edward Campbell, was attorney for the Kansas City, Memphis and Birmingham Railroad, which was the owner of the "Great Bridge." The KCM&B Railroad did not want a competing bridge to undermine its monopoly on the Mississippi river crossing. Congressman McKellar led a bipartisan majority to approve the bill. Leaders in Arkansas resented Memphis dealing with the railroad without their involvement. This was the first attempt in a long running feud over the bridge. Arkansas wanted a "toll-free" bridge that would accommodate trolley lines. In August 1912, a mass meeting was held in Marion, Arkansas. There, the Rock Island Railroad agreed to build a $4 million bridge with wagonways that would be turned over to Crittenden County and the City of Memphis, to be used "without toll for all time." On April 10, 1913, Ralph Modjeski was instructed to prepare plans for the bridge in Memphis. A "force" of draftsmen was employed to detail drawings for the substructure and superstructure of the bridge. On May 13, 1913, plans were submitted by the railroad to the U.S. Engineer for approval by the war department. Of the Harahan's total length of , lie in Tennessee, and lie in Arkansas. This was based on the state line being set in the center of the Mississippi river at low water. This disparity on ownership and maintenance was further exacerbated by the addition of from the end of the bridge to the St. Francis Levee. The total distance from the levee to the South Memphis bluffs was ; only lay in Memphis, Tennessee. The Harahan Bridge was originally to be named the Rock Island Bridge but was named for James Theodore Harahan, who was president of the Illinois Central Railroad at the time before his untimely death. Harahan was killed in a railroad accident on January 22, 1912 while traveling to Memphis on his private rail car to meet about the construction of the bridge. Construction The