Arkansas River Bridge
Photos
This abandoned, nine span, closed spandrel bridge crosses the Arkansas River on the west side of Arkansas City, Kansas north of US 166 The bridge is visible from 166
Photo taken by Robert Elder in February 2008
BH Photo #111522
Facts
- Overview
- Abandoned closed-spandrel arch bridge over Arkansas River
- Location
- Cowley County, Kansas
- Status
- Abandoned
- History
- Built 1914
- Design
- Closed-spandrel arch
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 60.0 ft.
Total length: 519.1 ft.
Deck width: 21.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +37.06356, -97.05782 (decimal degrees)
37°03'49" N, 97°03'28" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 14/672672/4103687 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Arkansas City
- Land survey
- T. 34 S., R. 3 E., Sec. 25 and 26
- Inventory numbers
- KS 000180851007045 (Kansas local bridge number on the National Bridge Inventory)
BH 36222 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- April 24, 2020: Updated by Geoff Hubbs: 1914 built date comes from "Reinforced Concrete Bridges of Luten Design"
- September 17, 2017: New photos from Nick Schmiedeler
- February 28, 2017: New photo from Nick Schmiedeler
- October 1, 2016: Updated by Clark Vance: Build date and NBI info
- May 17, 2014: New photos from Robert Brock
- March 9, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Added Street View link
- January 20, 2010: Updated by Robert Elder: Adjusted GPS Coordinates.
- February 7, 2008: Added by Robert Elder
Sources
- Robert Elder - robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Rob Brock - k0pvw [dot] mobile [at] gmail [dot] com
- Clark Vance - cvance [at] dogmail [dot] com
- Nick Schmiedeler - nick [at] nickschmiedeler [dot] com
- Geoff Hubbs
- Reinforced Concrete Bridges of Luten Design - Top of page 16 (Full of great color photos)
Comments
Nick's photograph from September of 2016 really shows how bad the flooding was that month. The Arkansas, Walnut, Ninnescah, and Whitewater Rivers saw some moderate to major flooding during that time. The Whitewater and Walnut Rivers alone flooded three times in 2016. These rivers still have a population of historic bridges so I always worry when they flood.
None of the flood waters from the Whitewater and Walnut Rivers passed under this bridge because the Walnut River joins the Arkansas River downstream of Ark City. Thus, the water seen here came down the Arkansas, Little Arkansas, and Ninnescah Rivers. These rivers have a smaller population of historic bridges than the Walnut and Whitewater Rivers, althought this closed spandrel bridge is certainly vulnerable, especially given its poor condition.
I was afraid that we were going to lose some bridges in this flood and in truth I suspect that we almost did. As far as I know, they all held fast until that final flood took out a stone arch bridge on Grouse Creek and damaged a couple others on the Grouse Creek farther downstream.
In short, 2016 was a scary year for bridges in South Central Kansas. I am thankful we did not lose more than one as far as I know. The Arkansas River is crossed by some incredible bridges in Oklahoma but as far as I know they all survived.
Looks like it is a Luten arch.
Eric is correct. The photos were uploaded in February 2008 and I must not have changed the default date. I will need to check the date that the photos were taken, but it was likely in June of 2004.
I don't think these photos were taken in February. The grass is a little green for that time of year.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ks/cowley/bh36222/
This bridge is being besieged by floodwaters. The Arkansas, Little Arkansas, Walnut, Whitewater, Ninnescah, Slate, and other streams are flooding right now. We could potentially lose some bridges in the region today.