Greenville-Lake Village Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Cantilevered Warren through truss bridge over the Mississippi River on US 82 between Greenville and Lake Village
- Location
- Chicot County, Arkansas, and Washington County, Mississippi
- Status
- No Longer Exists Western Portal pillars and markers still in place.
- History
- Opened to traffic Sept. 17, 1940; Closed to all traffic August 4, 2010 ; Demolished 2011
- Builders
- - American Bridge Co. of New York (Superstructure)
- Ash, Howard, Needles, & Tammen of Kansas City, Missouri (Engineer)
- Burdine Construction Co. of Magnolia, Arkansas (Embankments)
- F.V. Ragsdale Co (Substructure)
- Massman Construction Co. of Kansas City, Missouri (Substructure)
- Ned L. Ashton of Iowa City, Iowa (Engineer)
- Public Works Administration
- Design
- Cantilevered Warren through truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 839.6 ft.
Total length: 9,967.3 ft. (1.9 mi.)
Deck width: 23.9 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 18.2 ft.
- Also called
- Greenville Bridge
Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge
OLD Greenville Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +33.29315, -91.15959 (decimal degrees)
33°17'35" N, 91°09'35" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/671363/3685297 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Red Leaf
- Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
- 6,100
- Inventory numbers
- AHTD M1536 (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Dept. bridge number)
BH 10250 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of November 2008)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 25.8 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- September 2, 2019: Updated by Mike Kerkau: Added category "Public Works Administration"
- March 30, 2017: Updated by Luke: Added additional builders per forum comment
- July 20, 2014: Updated by Brad Smith: Added US 278
- January 14, 2011: New Street View added by David Backlin
- August 7, 2010: Updated by David Backlin: Bridge is now closed, pending demolition
- August 3, 2010: New photos from David Backlin
- July 29, 2010: Updated by David Backlin: Merged NBI data
- April 7, 2010: New Street View added by David Backlin
- February 26, 2010: Updated by David Backlin: Updated status
- December 9, 2009: Updated by David Backlin: To be removed Summer 2010
- April 14, 2009: Updated by David Backlin: Added contractors
- April 13, 2009: Updated by David Backlin
- August 26, 2008: New photo from AHTD
- April 18, 2006: Posted photo from David Miles
Related Bridges
- Greenville Bridge (Successor)
Sources
- David Miles - imchillindave [at] yahoo [dot] com
- AHTD
- David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
- Brad Smith - gaberdine [at] hotmail [dot] com
- Luke
Comments
This picture is of the Southern Pillar (on the right hand side of the picture showing them both.)
2nd picture
Picture of the west portal as it exists today
Videos on YouTube show that the approach spans were demolished, but these pictures suggest that the truss spans were carefully dismantled and set on the shore. Gomdot was offering to give the bridge away and relocate it for the new owners if a suitable proposal was received, but I never heard any news on this offer.
I took these photos in February, probably the last photos of the beautiful old bridge too :(
Why replace it? Here are some of the reasons given (http://www.greenvillebridge.com/2a_1940.htm)
-Total roadway width is 24 feet with no shoulders.
-An overall sufficiency rating of 47.5 from the Federal Highway Administration (FHA) makes the bridge eligible for replacement funding.
-The sharp vertical crest of the bridge reduces sight distance far below current criteria required by the Mississippi Department of Transportation.
-The location of the bridge makes it highly prone to marine vessel collisions.
Another reason, not openly discussed is politics: some Mississippi politicians wanted a new bridge and pushed to have the new one built.
Good question!
WHY WOULD SOMEONE WANT TO DEMOLITION SOMETHING SO BEAUTIFUL? IT IS SO SAD SO SO SAD.
Has a date been set for its demise? I don't want to be there for it, but if I get the chance I'd like to go see it one more time since it's only five hours away.
I hope the demolition contractors spare historic items like the builders' plaques. Noting, despite some changes over the years, both new and old bridges were built by the same firm. The new bridge looks sweepingly sleek.
Yes, it is downstream. I just visited this bridge on January 1 and took a few pictures. It's rather interesting how the main span is flat. Most major river bridges I've been over have at least a slight arch to them, unless they come off a bluff. I've always been a fan of these big through-trusses.
Here's the picture I use as a Windows desktop:
Isn't the new bridge a half=mile DOWNSTREAM from the old one????????????????
photos taken 2007
This bridge will be demolished when the new bridge and its aproaches are complete. Probably some time next year.
The 1940 Benjamin Humphreys Bridge will be coming down in 2008 or 2009 and is replaced to a new bridge slightly upstream.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ar/chicot/greenville/
The reason it was replaced was because the Corps of Engineers wanted it gone. It was a major headache for marine traffic. The new bridge was built so not to have the same problems.
The region would have been better served from a vehicular perspective of leaving it in place and building a new bridge on the north side of Greenville.
But one would say, they are getting both. Are they? Time will tell.