Natural Dam Bridge
Photos
Side view
Photo taken Oct. 2001 and provided by the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department
BH Photo #100368
Facts
- Overview
- Lost two-span through truss bridge over Lee Creek on AR 59 near the community of Natural Dam
- Location
- Crawford County, Arkansas
- Status
- Replaced by a new bridge
- History
- Built 1934 by contractor M.E. Gillioz, replacing an earlier truss bridge built in 1907 by the Illinois Steel Bridge Co ; Replaced 2018.
- Builder
- - M.E. Gillioz of Monett, Missouri
- Design
- Two-span, riveted, 6-panel Pennsylvania through truss with additional subties
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 142.0 ft.
Total length: 585.8 ft.
Deck width: 22.0 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 14.8 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on April 6, 1990
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +35.64585, -94.39360 (decimal degrees)
35°38'45" N, 94°23'37" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/373834/3945563 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Natural Dam
- Average daily traffic (as of 2016)
- 2,000
- Inventory numbers
- AHTD 01811 (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Dept. bridge number)
NRHP 90000508 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
AHTD 1811 (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Dept. bridge number)
BH 10318 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of June 2016)
- Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 46.8 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Update Log
- March 23, 2019: New photos from John Cross
- January 24, 2018: Updated by David Backlin: Updated to Lost
- January 5, 2018: Updated by David Backlin: Scheduled for demolition January 2018
- March 17, 2013: Updated by James Baughn: Bridge is doomed, but available for adaptive reuse
- August 20, 2011: Updated by David Backlin: Corrected bridge type per AHTD documents
- May 3, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
- December 5, 2009: Added HAER photos, removed duplicate listing
- January 20, 2005: Posted AHTD photos
Sources
- HAER AR-24 - Lee Creek Bridge
- AHTD
- Fred Garcia
- Nathan Holth
- David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
- James Baughn - webmaster [at] bridgehunter [dot] com
- Natural Dam bridge for sale - Press Argus-Courier, March 8, 2013
- Historically Registered Bridge In Natural Dam To Be Demolished - A historic truss bridge along Highway 59 in Natural Dam will soon be demolished.
- John Cross - jcross [at] cross-photography [dot] com
Comments
The Fort Chaffee Redevelopment Authority was originally going to reuse this bridge, but has changed their mind. It is now scheduled to be demolished by the end of January 2018.
View of the bridge from the north end. Taken in January 2015.
To be preserved in a new location (hopefully):
http://swtimes.com/news/chaffee-trust-eyes-vintage-bridge-hi...
Nice pics Wendy.....Love the dark clouds in the sky.
According to the plaque on the bridge this was built in 1934. Contractor - M.E. Gillioz. Engineer - N.B. Garver. See attached photos
Visited this bridge at 5:30 pm on 25 Feb '07. Arrived almost at sunset, but I got a few decent photos from each side and through the windshield as I drove across. Lee creek was up from rain the day before so profile views were out of the question. Upstream of this bridge is Natural Dam that is so close, if you don't visit you've missed out big time. It is a pretty spot with a 4' cragy ledgedrop, and a low-water bridge just below it. A nice picnic area with ample parking is adjacent to the falls.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
I have lived in Natural Dam all of my life. Natural dam is a wonderful place to live the bridge is beautiful and so is the dam. Two years ago the dam and the bridge flooded and was so coll except for the people who's house flooded. the bridge was closed for about two hours and that bridge is tall for it to be flooded. Well I hope you come to Natural dam and visit us some time.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ar/crawford/natural-dam/
I am sad to report that this bridge has been demolished. According to the AR Dept. of Transportation, the date plaque from the bridge has been donated to the Natural Dam Community Center to be displayed there. The photo below was taken a few days before the bridge was taken down.