I'm not finding any indication that Hitler had anything to do with the design of the Talmadge Bridge.
The engineering firm of Parsons Brinckerhoff designed and managed construction of the original cantilevered Eugene Talmadge Memorial Bridge in Savannah, Georgia. Construction began in March, 1953, and the project opened to traffic in September, 1954. The construction cost was approximately $12,500,000 and was paid with state bonds. The construction contractor was Merritt-Chapman & Scott Corporation. The bridge had a vertical clearance of 136 feet at high tide and a horizontal clearance of approximately 600 feet. The bridge suffered two ship-bridge collisions in July of 1983 and November of 1990.
GDOT hired Greiner Engineering Services in 1981 to study a bridge replacement. In July, 1987, bids were opened for the construction of the mainspan, a cable stayed span. The contract was awarded to Guy F. Atkinson Company and S.J. Groves & Sons Company for $25,702,607. The project was completed and opened to traffic in March of 1991. The approaches and related roadwork was contracted separately in 1988 to The Hardaway Company for $45,202,502. Their work was completed in 1991. The bridge replacement project was funded with state and federal funds. In 1988, the road over the Talmadge Bridge was designated as US Route 17. The new Talmadge Bridge has a vertical clearance of 185 feet at high tide and a horizontal clearance of 1,023 feet with both main piers located on land outside of the Savannah River.
The original links to this information have been archived and can be accessed now only through the archival site at:
http://archive.is/xyAWr
After entering the link (which is the result of searching on Talmadge Bridge in the archives, it brings up a screen shot of the original link:
http://web.archive.org/web/20030805073413/www.dot.state.ga.us/dot/plan-prog/intermodal/Waterways/savannah.shtml
Note that the original link is no longer active due to archiving, but you can view screenshots as explained here.
[Link and history of the archives updated on August 21, 2106 by shuehorn]
