Photos
 |
View from northeast All photos taken by an anonymous source |
 |
View from southwest |
 |
View from below |
 |
South portal |
 |
North end |
 |
South approach |
 |
Choctaw depot |
 |
Argenta depot in North Little Rock |
 |
Looking from north end |
 |
Behind north portal |
 |
North tower |
 |
Under tower looking north |
 |
Damaged deck |
 |
Inside ladder shaft |
 |
Outside ladder |
 |
Non-functional elevator |
 |
Photo taken by Fredrick Garcia |
 |
Photo taken by Fredrick Garcia |
Timeline
Compiled by James Baughn
- Jan. 11, 1853
- Little Rock and Memphis Railroad chartered by the Arkansas Legislature
- 1871
- Rail service established between Little Rock and Memphis
- 1898
- Choctaw, Oklahoma, and Gulf Railroad acquired the Little Rock and Memphis Railroad and created a subsidiary company, the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad, to oversee construction of line from Little Rock west into Indian Territory
- Mar. 21, 1899
- Choctaw and Memphis Railroad awarded construction contract for the bridge
- Dec. 10, 1899
- First regularly scheduled train service crossed the bridge from Memphis to Oklahoma City
- 1904
- Choctaw Railroad acquired by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad
- 1980
- Rock Island liquidated in bankruptcy court. Union Pacific later acquired Rock Island Bridge.
- Dec. 27, 2001
- Ownership transferred from Union Pacific to City of Little Rock
Facts
- Overview
- Closed vertical-lift railroad bridge over the Arkansas River in Little Rock at the Clinton Presidential Library
- Location
- Little Rock, Pulaski County, Arkansas
- Status
- Awaiting rehabilitation to reopen for pedestrian traffic
- History
- Built 1899 by the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad; lift span added 1972
- Design
- From north to south:
Two 14-panel Pennsylvania through truss spans
One 12-panel, polygonal Warren through truss vertical lift span
One 14-panel Pennsylvania through truss span - Dimensions
-
Total length: 1,614.0 ft.
- Also called
- Clinton Presidential Park Bridge
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +34.74870, -92.25869 (decimal degrees)
34°44'55" N, 92°15'31" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/567852/3845425 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Little Rock
- Inventory number
- BH 10546 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- June 2, 2010: Updated by David Backlin: Added alternate name
- April 30, 2008: Updated by Max Johnson
- June 26, 2005: Posted all new photos from an anonymous source
Sources
- Fredrick Garcia - fandsgarcia [at] gmail [dot] com
- David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
Comments
This bridge did not have the lift span when it was built.
As I read on another site, the lift span was added in 1972.
The way I read it, the City of Little Rock was sending in letters, telling that river traffic could not go under the bridge, so after 2 or 3 years of complaints, Rock Island closed the bridge in 1971, and mid 1972 reopened with a new lift span.
Sadly, Rock Island only got to use the new lift span for 8 years, until they went bankrupt in 1980.
Earth Day festivities were being held on the Clinton Library grounds when I was visiting this bridge on 21 April '07. Attached are two views that will compliment the nice array of photos already posted for this bridge.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.