What in the world made this man think he could take a 30 something ton truck over a 4 ton weight limit bridge? That`s a mistake?? More like stupidity. And he doesn`t think he should have lost his job because of this. If you can`t read the road signs, don`t drive.
I hate to see this bridge gone also, but hae even more to see a person being persecuted because of a mistake he made by all you you perfect people...
I wonder if anyone knows who the Swoveland road bridge is named after
I wonder if anyone knows who the Swoveland road bridge is named after jim swoverland
My grandpa used to live next to the post office and we used to swim and jump off the old bridge back in the 70's. My kids and I still go there from time to time and I am so glad they finally got the new bridge up. It hasn't been the same without a bridge connecting the two halves of the town.
Thank God and all those who helped for making sure it was a replica and not an ugly concrete eyesore.
We moved here in 1996, my kids and I have been swimming at "The Iron Bridge" for 10 years now. Everyone around here knows the iron bridge,either as a swimming hole, party spot, or make out spot. There are numerous stories, whether fact or fiction about this bridge. It is getting in bad shape and I hope it will be fixed instead of torn down, I would fight that tooth and nail. It is a part of our local history and needs to be preserved.
The loss of this bridge is akin to the loss of an old friend. Knowing that negligence caused its demise makes it a tragedy.
I am very sorry to hear of the tragedy of the collapse of the Frenchmans Bluff Bridge. I have pictures of relatives taken on the bridge. My dad grew up in the park area and was very familiar with the bridge's surroundings. Dad's ancestors lived near the Frenchmans Bluff Bridge. That bridge has been part of our family history for several generations. So sad that the bridge was destroyed before the new bridge could be built. It is such a shame that so much historical value has been taken and cannot be replaced. It is our community's loss.
I have always been fascinated with Bridges. During my last trip to Branson, we came through Kimberling City going home. I wanted to cross the Kimberling Bridge. It was nice long steel truss through cantilevered structure spanning Table Rock Lake. I give a good high Superior rating, as the best constructed Bridge ever built.
I have always been fascinated with Bridges. During my last trip to Branson, we came through Kimberling City going home. I wanted to cross the Kimberling Bridge. It was nice long steel truss through cantilevered structure spanning Table Rock Lake. I give a good high Superior rating, as the best constructed Bridge ever built.
What an irresponsible loss to our county and to our memory. A prime example of our daily battle with ignorance and irresonsibility. The Frenchman's Bluff bridge has provided generations with wonderful memories and will leave an empty hole in the history of our county and in our hearts. It shall truly be missed.
Excellent pictures and good website. Hopefully, this bridge will be restored and preserved. There can't be very many of these left.
Its at the west end of town.
This bridge is difficult to see, especially in summer. Both old road grades are overgrown with brush starting a good distance from the bridge itself. The easiest way to see it is to drive to it from the Bigelow side and turn right where the approach road ends by a utility building, and then take a left at the next turn. It takes you to a bluff/junkyard overlooking the river just north of the bridge. If the water is low, you can get to the bridge along the river bank, but there is a small creek near the bridge you will have you jump. The west end of the bridge is the damaged section.
The bridge was a wonderful memory for myself and my freinds from school It will be missed. Apparently the driver can't read a road sign. Another peice of our history destroyed.
Acually, it just depends on railroad traffic for the day. If the MacArthur bridge is backed up, Amtrak will go North along the riverfront and cross the Mississippi on the Merchants Bridge.
As of July 22,2006, this bridge no longer stands. Posted weight limits are in force for a reason.
Does anyone know if you can legally climb the Harahan Bridge post 9-11? Thanks.
Craig N. Schneider
We just completed a total rehab of this bridge, updating the guardrail system, and painting of the "white bridge"
Bridge is undergoing repairs at this time
The Wheeling bridge also requires that cars stay 50 feet apart. It's in decent shape, give the fact that it is almost 160 years old. You can only cross one lane at a time. Because of the fact that it was the first span ever over 1000 feet, and the fact that it is the first bridge over the Ohio River, it is doubtful that they will get rid of that bridge any time soon. I have ben to the wheeling bridge, it is a great bridge.
I drive accross this bridge everyday to work, but the most breath taking view is when you are about to float under it. It is awsome. It would be worth your while to take the boat trip. GREAT PHOTO OPPS.
Growing up on Chouteau Island in the early 60's, I remember this being a toll bridge. Walking across the bridge was like a stroll down memory lane.....
Lost. New bridge constructed approximately 2002.
There's a good possibility that that the large stones were indeed in the old abutment. I remember some large rocks around the east abutment, but do not know for certain that these are the same ones.
Visited this bridge again yesterday and it is still sitting on it's piers awaiting restoration/relocation. Still a beautiful old bridge.
Visited the site where this bridge used to be yesterday and found something unusual. The bridge built in it's place is a one lane steel pony truss . It should be dubbed graffiti bridge now as the new span is covered in it.
Actually, the comments my cousin Steve made are correct - only they should have been written about Dick's Bridge on Imhoff road.
I'm glad Steve remembers the stories and things we did. I always looked forward to the times the Brown's visited. I really miss you guys.
Thanks for a great website! Lots of memories...
Don Imhoff
a coworker of mine named Robert is a lifelong resident of Bigelow and he offered this bit of information:
in the mid 1970's, possibly 1976 - the bigelow bridge in a freak occurence ( a vehicle crossing it somehow ignited the flame ) caught fire and burned. it was then abandoned.
Watch for a new deck of cards coming out that includes a photo of the Teegarden Covered Bridge taken by photographer, Bill Miller. You can find out more information about the deck at www.coveredbridgeplayingcards.com
Sherry, looking for Moselle history, may be interested in this website:
I stand corrected. According to this website
http://thelibrary.springfield.missouri.org/lochist/frisco/depots/franklin.cfm
Moselle was on the Frisco RR, not the Mo. Pac.
I've crossed this bridge many times in the '50s when I was a kid. Our family had a cabin on the Bourbeuse R. on the farm of Josie Otten and her daughter and son-in-law, Geo & Julie Hagedorn. One of the highlights of a summer stay at the cabin was the drive into Moselle across the old one-lane wooden deck bridge to get water and supplies. There was an old general store and a public hand-pump well in Moselle. The general store was about the only business left in town in the '50s and I think they closed shortly afterward. Moselle was a train stop on the Mo Pacific RR.
I think the bridge was damaged by a flood in the 60s or 70s and never reopened. It sat there for many years afterward but with no access to it. It was vey close to the mouth of the Bourbeuse where it empties into the Meramec.
This bridge washed out in a 1965 flood. One of the spans was tossed into the creek like a toy as a result of the raging waters.
If you're not a St. Louisan and don't know.......AVOID this bridge like the plague for the next several months. They're repaving so there's one lane closed in each direction. Traffic backs up for several miles at the worst times. If you have to get downtown, use the MLK or the Eads. If you're going through the city to the south, use the I-255 bypass and the Jefferson Barracks Bridge (Exit 10 on the Illinois side). If you're going through on the north, use I-270 (Exit 20 on the Illinois side) and the Chain of Rocks Bridge. The PSB is BAD NEWS right about now.
I was raised in SW Missouri and I am very familiar with the area. For some reason, I have always been intrigued by the old Kimberling City Bridge. I knew I had seen pictures with both bridges. Try the addresses below.
If they don't work, I suggest a google search with "old kimberling city bridge".
Regards.
Paul Wilson
BEING REBUILT AT THIS TIME
Have you ever received any comments on this bridge regarding paranormal activity. there is some tales of some eerie activity at this bridge. In 1994 me and 3 of my friends visited this bridge and all 4 of us were witness of this behavior. I wanted to know if you had any comments or questions regarding this bridge.
The new bridge is open. It's an ugly concrete slab. No character what so ever. I live a few houses away from the bridge and it makes all of us sad. With the old bridge people would stop and let the other car pass. Folks would smile and wave at each other just like the olden days. Now it's woosh, they're gone. Another link to our history destroyed. Back when the old bridge was still standing, I used to walk or ride my bike to it and stare at it, wondering what it was like back when it was being built. How many people worked on it. How long it took to put it up. How much money it cost. All the changes it saw in the decades, and boy that's a lot of changes in this area. I'm sad as heck. It was the first bridge I ever crossed in my life. I even miss hearing the sound of traffic driving over it. The boards on the deck made a certain noise that can't be replicated by a concrete slab! They tore it down by knocking it over with a back hoe. It was a very dishonorable way to take it down. I wish I could've gotten a big piece of it, like one of the iron posts that would meet the traffic before starting the side railing.
Why do modern architects have to build such PLAIN, BASIC, and BORING bridges!!!??? In my opinion, all bridges that are replaced ought to be either suspension, cantilever, or cable-stayed!!!! Wake up, bridgebuilders!!! Concrete is BORING!!!! BE MORE CREATIVE!!!
During a recent family vacation my family & I had the wonderful pleasure of crossing the Beaver Bridge. It happened upon chance that we found this treasure. Through our navigation system we requested the "back roads", little did we know what a beautiful & rare attraction we would find. It disturbs me to read that the bridge is being looked at by Tyson industries as a route to deliver goods. Let me just say. Leave it alone! We have enough interstates & freeways for you. What America doesn't have is enough hidden treasures! Thank you.
I lived in Jefferson county near Blackwell, untill
1951 when my parents moved to Utah. It is so sad to think
of the Blackwell bridge being gone. I have walked across
that bridge many many times. Sometimes I would ride my
mule to get groceries at Mr. Cole's store for my mom,
but no amount of coaxing would make my mule cross the
bridge. My husband and I thought of taking a trip back
this summer,but I don't suppose there is anyone living
there that I would know of after so many years.
Marie Engledow Howland
Stockton,California
The actual name of the bridge is the Shade-Lohman Bridge. Just drove across there today.
This bridge was part of a siding by which trains reached a long-gone station in downtown Quincy. The original CB&Q mainline ran across Quincy Bay on the Quinsippi Island Bridge and continued on an alignment across the Mississippi south of the present Mississippi crossing. Trains stopping in Quincy took the siding on Quinsippi Island across this bridge to the station, generally either backing into or out of the station. These alignments are quite visible on satellite photos of the area commonly available at various web portals. The passenger station was relocated to the Missouri side at West Quincy for many years, and that station has now been replaced by a station on the east side of Quincy.
During the 1960's and 1970's, the Quincy Park District used soome of these piers to support an aerial gondola ride from downtown to Quinsippi Island. The Island end connected to a narrow-guage railway (originally with a minature steam engine, later supplemented/replaced with an internal cumbustion engine) which carried riders to Quinsippi park back on the "mainland" side of the Quinsippi Bridge, where a small park with concessions and an auto museum operated. The rides and park attractions were not financially successful and have been discontinued. Pictures of the Quinsippi Bridge show where the narrow guage tracks ran right down the middle of the one-lane roadway.
Thanks so much for the wonderful photos and information about the old bridge over the Black River. I remember as a small boy going with my family, Art and Babe Geders of Manchester,MO. and my godparents, Bernard and Neoma McManus also of Manchester,MO. to the Black River Lodge almost every year in the late 1950's and early 1960's for a vacation. What a wonderful place to have fun and relax in! I will never forget the sound the old bridge made when you drove over it to get to the lodge or the sound that was made by the hay-wagon on those neat hayrides. I also remember fishing with my Dad and Godfather below the bridge and listening to the awesome sounds it emulated when something drove over it.Those were wonderful, peaceful days and times, I only wish we still had them to this day. I will miss the Old Bridge and hope to drive there soon to just reminisce the "Good Ol Days" gone by. Times like that will never be had again.
In layman's terms, just where is this bridge located? Is it in the town of Waynesville? I don't remember seeing this bridge.
The "Big Four" bridge was the first thing that caught my eye during a recent visit to Louisville. I stood at the north end and marveled at how man can put such effort into building an engineering marvel only to abandon it just a few decades later.
I also vistited the "Falls of the Ohio" bridge and admired the remnants of the stone structures at the bridge entrance where now only one set of tracks now crosses.
Oh,how I would love to travel back in time to the heyday when the rails were alive!
Andy Cole,
Hawaii
I remember crossing the old Vicksburg Bridge in a semi in the summer of '71. There was glass all over the roadway from broken mirrors because it was so narrow people's mirrors would get knocked off by oncoming traffic. The bridge was part of truckers' lore for a few decades. I you hadn't been across the Vicksburg Bridge, you weren't a real trucker.
Would like to compliment you on your bridge.
We had the opportunity to visit the bridge on the weekend of June 24th and enjoyed it very much.
Our organization (Northwest Territory Covered Brisge Association) includes the state of Illinois and your brige was the first bridge we visited in your state.
It is nice to know that bridges are still being built and yours is one of the finest new bridges we have had the honor to visit. The setting is very beautiful and the deck is a very nice touch.
We were wondering if the large stones used for the retainment wall at the parking lot were from the abutement of the old bridge.
Unfortunately it was raining when we visited and our photo could have used more light. But that's all right, we'll just have to visit you again when we return to Illinois.
Once again, very, very nice.
Bobby Adair
Northwest Territory Covered Bridge Association
President
Mason, Ohio
I have been a fan of old and/or unusual bridges for most of my 74 years. I appreciate the fine pictures and the information found at this website. Mr.Eads went on to contribute many engineering innovations on the Mississippi River.
no photos of this lost beauty, all i can do is leave a story or two. my father told me a few weeks ago something i never knew. in my life - at the southern portal of this bridge, the road began ascending up & over Potts ridge where the road had been cut through the hillside. but that was not always the case. from the bridges construction until the 1950's the road originally made an immdeiate left turn exiting the south portal and going along the ridge east to the gap in the ridge at billy goat bluff. my father on horseback with some other cow hands drove cattle across this old pratt through truss wooden deck bridge at times. the north approach to this bridge cruved about 5 degrees to the east, and sadly on new years 1950, a Mr. Adair was killed when his car plunged through the railing on the approach.
of the 4 bridges south of Magazine spanning the Petit Jean, this one may have been my favorite. A Pratt Through truss built early in the 1900's, it was the most rustic & ancient appearing of the 4. even as a young adult i was always a bit timid crossing it because it was so worn out, and to me that is what made it a bridge. i have no photos of it, but it looks identical to the Tull Bridge in Saline county. the first time i saw the Tull bridge i could have sworn it was the Kilburn bridge, right down to the sloped approach and immediate left turn at its portal. my father was born at home on the kitchen table just 1/4 mile south of this bridge in 1927, i grew up about 2 miles northeast of it. and i recall a RUMOR that early in the bridges life that a couple actually had they're wedding on this bridge.
As the one year anniversary approaches tomorrow of the official closing of the old bridge and the opening of that new piece of crap, I still feel bitter about it being gone. I live 2 miles from the old bridge. It was so beautiful and I still cannot believe it is not there to see. I really enjoyed it. I have been all over the country and it was one of my favorite bridges. It was not structurally weak at all. I live at the airport in Henrietta and the head hauncho in charge of the demolition flew into that airport to oversee the project in his personal aircraft and told me straight out that bridge was strong. They had to blow one section twice just to get it to come down and it still held together. So much for all the claims that it was going to fall apart one day. We will never understand the stupidity of the powers at be nowadays. They tear down everything now of historic value. The Richmond high school, Woodson School, Lexington middle school all in last few months. There will be nothing left for our grandkids to see. A crime on history.
this bridge has alot of old memories PLEASE KEEP IT!!
The four main span concrete pillars are still standing on sight.
We grew up in White County and would often cross the old swinging bridge at Des Arc. My oldest sister was terrified of the bridge and once, when we were waiting to cross it, she refused to ride across it riding in the back of our truck. So my Dad says, okay - you can walk across. Well, when she walked across it she saw the missing boards and realized she would rather ride across it. She never did that again!
Mystery Swinging Bridge No. 1 was called the Hackberry Bridge. I think it was sometimes also called the Lower Bridge. It was built in 1897 by Joe Dice and Ed Allen for $3,000.
Michael is right. It was located where '65' crosses the Osage, Lake of the Ozarks, whatever you want to call that body of water these days. There was a ford on one side of the bridge and a ferry on the other. Joe and Ed bought the ferry for $620. The bridge was a toll bridge and Joe's brother ran the toll booth and lived on the south bluff until the time of his death.
In 1926, someone supposedly set fire to the ferry and the bridge. People said you could see the flames for miles. A new bridge was built in 1927.
When I was a teenager, my dad would take us boys snagging at Warsaw. The Conservation Dept. dictated you couldn't start snagging until you got to the '65' bridge. We would often get "hung up" directly downstream from the bridge. Now I wonder if we weren't dragging those big hooks over the old cables from the Hackberry.
As a child I can remember going accross the Warsaw Middle Bridge on several occassions before it was closed down. After it closed it was a favorite fishing spot for my father and us kids. The grounds around the bridge was one of the best places Ive ever seen to dig for NightCrawlers!! Thanks for the memories!!
As a child, back in the 1960's, I used to spend my summers in White Branch, near Warsaw, Mo. Our cabin was on a bluff overlooking the Osage river. Exploring the bluff, I found an old road bed in the woods, and old, rusted wire strands hanging down through the brush and woods. I knew about the "swinging bridges" and often wondered what old bridge had once crossed the river at that spot. Maybe it was the Mystery Swinging Bridge? The view in the distance looks about right.
Like many others I have had many mixed emotions about this bridge and it's sad ending.However,I will not absolutely not miss driving on that bridge at all. It was a terror of terrors driving on that thing when a tractor trailer was coming in the other direction.
However my Grandfather worked on that bridge in the twenties as they were building it. He lived in Napeoleon and my Grandmother's family was from Camden. So as you can imagine that bridge helped the families. So my family put sweat equity into that thing.
Being in the Navy and traveling home many a time to the Richmond area going over that bridge always signaled that home was no more than 10 minutes away after a long drive from either Charleston, Norfolk or Mayport. So it did give me some fond memories.
Sadly near the end it's shape was the worst shape I have ever seen any bridge in my many travels around the world. I was scared everytime I crossed it that it might fall apart with the poor maintenance giving it over the last two decades of it's existence. With relatives that work at MODOT I will be nice to them as it was clear near the end that money was not to be had to for any maintenance for the bridge. Even if it had good maintenace it was limited in it's lifespan by it's physical structure with no way possible to expand it's lanes and very limited ability to increase it's load bearing capacity.
So Adios Old Gal and we certainly got every last penny out of ya!
We think this is the bridge that goes over Flint creek just
before the Sleepy Hollow store going north into Gentry from Siloam Springs. The crossroad (store on east side of road, and bed and breakfast on west) used to be called Dawn Hill Rd (may still be) and goes to the Adventist Academy going west, and to Hwy 12 and Springtown going East. Flint creek comes from the spring in Sprintown, about 5 miles from the bridge.
Hope this proves to be true and that it may help someone identify where the bridge is. It just has gaurd rails now and no top. Nice location.
I brought a sailboat to use on Table Rock Lake. The mast reaches 21' above the water. Will I be able to sail under the bridge?
I remember the old Des Arc swinging bridge very well. I was young and it was torn down before I started a family. But, when it was destoyed, I felt a sadness and a turning point in my life. The pictures do not give it justice. As a teenager I remember the thrill of crossing the single lane and waiting for the swaying and 'creeking' sounds to begin. The crossing seemed to take forever. There was always a certain sense of fear associated with the crossing especially in cold weather when it was even more hazardous. For those of us who were young with no children, it was an exciting drive. When the new bridge was built, safe or not, I missed the old one so much. On occasion, in conversation regarding the bridge, I can truthfully say I was a part of a special historical passing.
so many of my bridge memories are from childhood. about 1970 there was a large flood here in this valley of the Petit Jean south of Magazine. this valley between the first magazine bridge and Potts Ridge was flooded. we had to go around thru the town of Blue Mtn. to check cattle in Hog Thief Valley. we went up Potts ridge and down the other side approaching this middle bridge to see the flooded valley and bridge. the water was so high only about the top 4 foot of this bridges' upper truss was visible!
i recall as child crossing this bridge in 69 - 70 as it was being rehabilitated. you actually had to go UP & OVER the arch via a wooden deck that was built on it. it seemed so high and i remember no side railing, very frightening to me. we crossed it then going to and from Clarksville for my oldest sister who was in College of the Ozarks at the time and the Morrison Bluff bridge between Clarksville and Scranton did not yet exist.
When I was little, crossing the Hutsonville bridge in my parents' car terrified me. It had that high, climbing arch in the middle that pictures never seem to do justice, and with my fast-driving dad at the wheel, it felt like we were being launched to someplace I most certainly didn't want to go. With the bridge quivering and making spooky noises all around me, thinking I would surely die, I always mustered the courage to peek out the back seat window at the murky, infamous Wabash far below. Once across and back on solid ground, I breathed a sigh of relief as we passed the toll booth that sat smack dab in the middle of the road on the Indiana side of the bridge. The toll taker, as I remember, was a tall, lanky man who seemed made for the narrow, wooden toll booth. He always smiled and waved to us with his one good arm as if he too was happy that we made it across the bridge safely. Just below his right elbow on the other arm was a shiny, sliver hook, a misfortune I was sure somehow involved the bridge.
The bridge was reopened on May 27 2006
for more information and pictures go to www.slvdweller.com and click on Mesita
The Riddle Bridge was named for the Riddle family of TN and MO who lived on a farm near the site. The Riddle Family Cemetery is located nearby. Thank you for making these pictures available.
My friend was told that if you go on this bridge when it's dark and stop and turn off your car on the middle of it you can hear people in the woods talking (people that have died on the bridge from having been run off it). We decided last night to try.. we got on the middle of it turned off the car and had all our windows down. For a few seconds it was fine then we heard a huge bang on the top of our car. It sounded like something fell on it but we didnt hear anything roll off the car. Immediatly we tried to start the car but it wouldnt work, after a try it did and we left. There were no scratches or dents left on the car.
This is actually the McDonough Street Bridge. The Jefferson Street Bridge is a 3 lane one way bridge. McDonough Street is a 2 way 2 lane bridge which carries US Routes 52 and 6 over the Des Plains River.
Thanks loads for the bridge pics. This bridge became a part of mine & my family's lives every July since 1961. There were a lot of keepsake memories that happened on that bridge that I'll always remember. Too bad is wasn't preserved somehow. I have recently driven over a few Missouri bridges that are in much worse shape, but are still being utilized. Sure doesn't make much sense?????
Thought I could outdue your viewpoint so I drove around the town of Henley for half an hour trying to find better access. When I couldn't, I found a local who shared a beer with me and told me about a private drive leading to a boat ramp just to the south of the bridge. I made the visit to which no one seemed to mind any trespassing, and the view was indeed better. One could walk the old rails in the winter months but not during the spring or summer.
If one wants to walk this bridge, I recommend doing it in the fall or winter months, because to get there one must forge through a plethera of poision ivy and ticks (I picked at least 20 off me). The view is breathtaking but the trek across isn't for the faint at heart, since some of the ties are rotting or altogether missing in places. Still I found the adventure to be worth the drive.
I LEARNED TO SWIM BY BEING THROWN OFF THIS BRIDGE, IN THE EARLY FIFTIES, BY TWO OF MY BROTHERS, MARLIN , AND DAVID AND FRIENDS, (IT TOOK5), LOTS OF MEMORIES HERE, WE FARMED JUST WEST OF THE BRIDGE ON LAND THAT JOINED LOCUST CREEK,THERE WERE TWO FAMLIES LIVED ACROSS THE BRIDGE ON NEWTON ISLAND THE RILEY IRWIN FAMILY,JUST BELOW THIS BRIDGE ONE OF THE LARGEST BAPTISINGS WAS HELD HERE IN 1953 , BY REV BILLY KING , AND GW ENDICOTTS FATHER ,
I remember all bridges and butterfly mentioned. My grandfather worked at Lemont Harbor and Fleeting. I used to go on the boat with him at times to haul barges up and down the canal. If I'm not mistaken the 9th St. Bridge met its dimise early one foggy winter morning when it was struck by a barge. Also not mentioned was a bridge just like the Romeo Bridge at Lemont. For some reason it never swung in the early 70's. They did something to disable the bridge from swinging.
This bridge replaced a swing bridge that had been there since my Mother and Aunt were kids. I remember when this bridge was constructed. I was about 5 years old at the time. It was a site to see when we would drive over the old swing bridge seeing this high monster being constructed. After its completion you could look down on the north side and see what was left of the old road.
I agree - great bridge and the new one is definately lacking in character! This bridge was for sale in "Arizona Highways" magazine about the time it was removed...site indicates bridge "no longer exits", so I guess it was never brought - what a shame!
this bridge plays a song, a tune, a little honkey tonk... driven over and foregotten.
I was in Siloam Springs last week with my mother, Doris Harman Kessler, and we were looking for structures built by her grandfather, Willis Tweed Harman, who lived in Siloam Springs. She remembers that he built the first dam in Siloam Springs to make a pool of the two springs there, and that he worked on the construction of (she thinks) a narrow gauge railroad, which might have been nicknamed "Peavine". It might have roughly followed the route of the present Arkansas & Missouri RR.
He used to put the name "Harman" in the concrete structures he built. I wondered whether this railroad bridge, or any other bridges or viaducts in northwest Arkansas are known that show the name "Harman".
If anyone knows of structures with the name "Harman" on them, we'd sure appreciate hearing from you!
close to 20 years ago a local organization here in the Conway area put out a calender featuring this bridge. here in faulkner county, it is known as the "Springfield/Des Arc" bridge. the reason for that according to the caption on the calender is that this bridge lay on a prominent trade route. the road this bowstring was on connected Springfield and Conway county area to a major river port on the White river farther east at Des Arc in Prairie county.
This was a very famous bridge and can be seen in hundreds of post cards from the lake region. People use to call it the Upside Down Bridge because of its unusual design. The bridge was built this way so motorist could have a great view of the lake. Sadly the ugly concrete eye sore that replaced it is very hard to see over the sides from a car. Before the bridge was torn down in 1995 and after it was closed in the 1980's people use to put Christmas decorations out on the bridge.
This was a great bridge I'm sad to see it go. It’s just down from the Ha Ha Tonka State Park. It really added to the area with the look of its steel trusses. Unfortunately it was replaced with a very ugly concrete eye sore that adds nothing to the area and you can't see over the sides of the bridge in a car.
This bridge is about 25 minutes from where I work. It’s a very nice example of a self-anchored swinging bridge. It is 2 lanes and looks very sound, but does have quite a bit of rust on the metal. The deck is a metal grate deck with no concrete surface. It’s neat below the bridge because all the light shines through the deck. It’s also very loud when you drive across it. I will send some pictures to the website soon.
I now work just up hwy 5 from this bridge. The work has been completed for this year on the bridge it now has a new deck surface. The guardrails are quite rusted on the sides, but over all the bridge seems in good shape for all the traffic it gets. Its one of the most scenic views on any bridge any were. The design really does allow for a better view than other bridge types.
Camping at Gipsy was great! Every summer when I was a kid, my whole extended family got together for a week of fun and togetherness. I have begun searching for another spot like the Gipsy bridge campground so that all of my cousins and I can keep the tradition going with our kids, but no luck so far. So much for progress...
It is where the amtrack crosses. It is the only way for a common person to cross the river on this bridge now. Get a window seat.
We were delighted to receive an email on 5/3/06 from Shari and Randall Houp asking if we knew anything about this bridge, which we did not. As descendants of Zenas King, the founder of the King Iron Bridge Company, we have been documenting the history of the company and tracking any of their bridges that still remain on our website at www.kingbridgeco.com. This is indeed an exciting new find and must be one of the oldest of the Z. King patented bowstrings still around, joining the Springfield Bridge in Faulkner County, the Fort Laramie Army Bridge, and the Hale Bridge in Anamosa, Iowa (the later two still have the same type of builder's plate as this bowstring.)
If there is local interest in restoring this bridge for some historic or functional purpose, our family charitable gift fund would be glad to make a contribution. Allan King Sloan
I'm searching for information on an old bridge in Swope Park. I believe it spans a part of the Blue River. In the 1940's it was known as a "swinging bridge" and was part of the trail used to walk from the end of the streetcar line to the lagoon and swimming pool in the park.
I see nothing that sounds like it in this Historic Bridges of the Midwest website. Would appreciate any information on it. As I recall, it was only about 10 to 12 feet wide, steel construction with wooden deck. Warnings were posted not to swing it...but when five or six people "marched" on it in step with one another, it did swing.
i am sure James of H.B.of the Mdwst / and everyone else for that matter - are tired of hearing me praise my friend Bob Knight for telling me about this bridge. too bad, we owe this man so much. Robert at the highway dept. has already thanked him, as have i. but if you other bridge lovers feel obliged to, then by all means thank Bob yourself. It is Bob Knight, not me that gets credit for bringing this bridge to our attention.
his address is simply:
Bob Knight
Plainview, ARK. 72857
In the same day i first found the historic Bowstring bridge on the Petit Jean, i later got to go to and photograph this beautiful long camel back truss bridge on the Fourche (the photos to be posted here are Wayne's, not mine). THANKS again to BOB KNIGHT, he directed me to this bridge also. this bridge is great and in a beautiful spot on the river, ENJOY.
Important Note:
My future wife and I are avid Steel Truss Bridge hunters. Last Saturday,May 27,2006, we came across the Petit Jean Bowstring Bridge. We are going again tommorow, June 3,2006. We are also very interested in the history of this bridge. Our research has found so far the following possible information: From the book,HISTORY OF YELL COUNTY ARKANSAS, by Wayne Banks, published July 1959, pg. 68 " The first real progress in road construction was the erection of two steel bridges over Petit Jean, one with a 100 ft. span at Danville, and still another over the route between Dardanelle and Hot Springs.These bridges were erected in 1879". Could this be the date of our "new" bowstring bridge??? More research to follow, including research on Mickles, Arkansas. If anybody has any information whatsoever on this bridge or others, please contact me at ghostbridgehunter@yahoo.com
As kids we stood in the middle of the bridge against the rail, 30+ feet over the moving, serious river, while two, maybe three loaded Gibson Coal trucks crossed from Indiana, always going too fast so as to beat the lights that had been put at each end of the bridge to reduce traffic to one lane. The bridge groaned and shook as if it was alive and felt pain. When the loaded-down trucks hit the middle of the span, never as far apart from each other as they should've been, the deck felt like it dropped a good 2-3 feet under us. Once the trucks were across, the forgiving bridge rose back to its usual position, as if it were a big spring, which basically it was. When loaded, the arched deck dropped and straightened, pushing out toward the ends, and the simple cable system supporting the whole crazy thing stretched and relaxed like so many rubber bands. Feet planted, hands gripping the rail, we felt brave.
Thank you Bob Knight of Plainview Ark. for directing me to this bridge. for 30 plus years i have driven on hwy. 10 south of this bridge never knowing it existed. imagine my suprise on sat. may 20, 2006 when i followed Bobs' directions and found not a Pratt Thru Truss structure as is common on the Petit Jean, but instead this historical Bowstring. LET US ALL TAKE INSPIRATION FOR OUR SEARCHES. I was directed to this bridge in a casual conversation at the car races one night, hom many more forgotten bridges in America are waiting to be discovered?GET OUT THERE FOLKS !!!!
Designed by Elmer G. Pyle, PE, SE (deceased)
Rhutasel and Associates, Inc.
Centralia, Illinois
200 foot single span.
My grandfather told me a story about the day the bridge was opened in 1939. Everyone in town, and then some, turned out for the ribbon cutting cermony. Politicians and dignitaries galore. The bridge was packed with people from one end to the other and my grandfather was so sure that it would collapse from the weight that he forbid my mother (who was 16 at the time), my grandmother, and my mother's younger sister from going out onto the bridge. They, of course, weren't about to miss out on the excitement. In other words, they ignored him. Having grown up in Hutsonville, and having spent a lot of time in relation to the bridge, I can understand why my grandfather was concerned. It really didn't look all that sturdy, and being that it was designed to flex and move, it didn't always feel so sturdy either. More to come.
That bridge was replaced a few years ago.
There is no immediate threat of replacement that I am aware of but just recently, a 15 ton weight limit has been put on the bridge.
It will be replaced in 2007-2008. Illinois 14 will be widened. The city of Christopher is relocating their baseball fields to make way for the new shoulders. IL 14 will be widened by five feet.
I called the offices of the Miller County Commission today and confirmed that the bridge is "on the list" to be demolished and replaced with a new bridge. I was told no date had been set for the demolition and that the contract for the work had not been authorized yet.
The old bridge was dismantled and removed after the new bridge opened.