Rating:
3 votes

Spring River Swinging Bridge

Randolph County, Arkansas, and Lawrence County, Arkansas

Photos 

Tower

Photos taken April 2005 by Keith Stephens

BH Photo #100990

Map 

Facts 

Overview
Lost swinging bridge over Spring River next to AR 361 between Black Rock and Old Davidsonville
Location
Randolph County, Arkansas, and Lawrence County, Arkansas
Status
Bridge destroyed, but some vestiges remain, including a standing tower, a fallen tower, some cables, and some approach piers
History
Built 1936 by the Works Progress Administration; destroyed by fire in 1951 under mysterious circumstances. Current bridge built 1992.
Builder
- Works Progress Administration
Design
Wire suspension
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 259.9 ft.
Total length: 671.9 ft.
Deck width: 13.8 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 32.0 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+36.13935, -91.08372   (decimal degrees)
36°08'22" N, 91°05'01" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
15/672415/4001105 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Noland
Inventory numbers
AHTD 19824 (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Dept. bridge number)
BH 10555 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arkansas (1,739)
Built 1936 (1,126)
Built during 1930s (11,465)
Destroyed by fire (173)
Lawrence County, Arkansas (17)
Lost (23,572)
Lost 1951 (53)
Lost during 1950s (628)
 Randolph County, Arkansas (15)
Span length 250-500 feet (1,163)
Spring River (Arkansas) (5)
Suspension (681)
Total length 500-1000 feet (2,776)
Wire/cable Suspension (139)
Works Progress Administration (254)

Update Log 

  • October 9, 2019: New photo from David Backlin
  • October 6, 2014: New photos from Patrick S. O'Donnell
  • April 26, 2005: Posted new photos from Keith Stephens

Sources 

  • Keith Stephens - keithstephens [at] cox-internet [dot] com
  • Patrick S. O'Donnell - 1 [dot] 991km [at] comcast [dot] net
  • David Backlin - us71 [at] cox [dot] net
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Comments 

Spring River Swinging Bridge Unnamed 4 miles south of Imboden
Posted August 26, 2014, by ralph haskett (yourhandy69 [at] gmail [dot] com)

I have seen The ruins of an old bridge South of Imboden About 4 miles

Half a mile North of Lawsons Creek One lane wide Bridge footings Bowl Concrete footings Both sides of the river At least 15 feet above water Too far apart for a single span All Columns gone now. Only think I find out about it It may have been called military bridge In a US Military report About it being washed out No other records I can find talks about it

Spring River Swinging Bridge
Posted May 10, 2012, by Robert L. Stephens (tylerhotel [at] hotmail [dot] com)

I remember crossing this bridge once in the late 1940s, when I was about eight or nine years old. It had a wooden deck, was a narrow one lane, and moved more than I liked. In fact, I think the entire family objected to crossing it but Daddy was in charge and we went over. It felt good to complete the trek.