Big Bottom Slough Bridge
Facts
- Overview
- Through truss bridge over Big Bottom Slough on CR 58 (Padgett Island Road), south of Magness
- Location
- Independence County, Arkansas
- Status
- Derelict/abandoned
- History
- Built 1909 by the Joliet Bridge & Iron Co.
- Builder
- - Joliet Bridge & Iron Co. of Joliet, Illinois
- Design
- Pin-connected, 7-panel Pratt through truss with wooden deck
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 109.9 ft.
Total length: 191.9 ft.
Deck width: 10.5 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 16.5 ft.
- Recognition
- Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on September 24, 2004
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +35.67022, -91.47718 (decimal degrees)
35°40'13" N, 91°28'38" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 15/637822/3948440 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Newark
- Average daily traffic (as of 1984)
- 51
- Inventory numbers
- AHTD 14014 (Arkansas Highway and Transportation Dept. bridge number)
NRHP 04001042 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 10374 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection report (as of August 2012)
- Overall condition: Poor
Superstructure condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 16.4 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com
Sources
- AHTD
- Fred Garcia
- Kenneth Rorie
- Leslie Sessums - leslie-loves-you [at] hotmail [dot] com
Comments
Those welded marks on the compression member are likely high water marks from floods in the region.
Visited this bridge on Saturday, 10 Feb 2007, at approx 3 pm.
Tubular iron gates on each end restrict vehicle access.
Wooden decking has deteriorated, but the running boards appear to be in usable condition.
Large sheets of plexiglass have been dumped at one approach and there is some older graffiti on the large truss member where the plaque is located.
One curious thing noticed was that on the left side main truss there were several dates stick welded to the steel member (possible from welding repairs - 1915, 1916, 1927 & 1932). They appear to have been done by the same person. There is another plate at the crown of the bridge (painted red) that reads "National Historical Bridge Built 1909). The letters and date are formed from welding beads, similar the welding repair dates on the truss. All probably done by the same welder.
Bridge approaches are viney & weedy, making it difficult to get a good profile view. Banks are slick and debris ladden from recent rise.
This bridge is within sight of a large electrical generating plant that has the appearance of being a nuclear facility with two massive cooling towers.
Webmaster's note: The photos that were here have been incorporated into the main site.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ar/independence/bottom-slough/
I'm from Newark :) The power plant you see is run by Entergy and it's NOT nuclear. It actually is a transfer plant for the South Ward of New Orleans (The South Ward gets its power from the Newark plant.) Growing up I heard so many stories of the "Cry Baby Bridge" as so many people have. To be honest despite its age and prestige, this is a VERY creepy bridge!