Historic Bridges of the U.S. | Big Bottom Slough Bridge

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Photos

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Overview

Photos provided by the Arkansas Highway & Transportation Department

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South portal

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North portal

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Looking southeast

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Photo taken by Fredrick Garcia

Map

Vicinity map

Map links:

Facts

Overview: Through truss bridge over Big Bottom Slough on CR 58 (Padgett Island Road), south of Magness
Location: Independence County, Arkansas
Status: Closed to all traffic
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
Approximate latitude, longitude: +35.66973, -91.47790 (decimal degrees)
35°40'11" N, 91°28'40" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 15/637758/3948385 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map: Newark
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 (as of 04/2007): Deck condition rating: Serious (3 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 16.4 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 1984): 51

Sources

AHTD
Fredrick Garcia - fandsgarcia [at] gmail [dot] com

Comments

Big Bottom Slough Bridge

Posted February 14, 2007, by Daniel Arnold (oak_grove99 [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Those welded marks on the compression member are likely high water marks from floods in the region.

Big Bottom Slough Bridge

Posted February 12, 2007, by Fred Garcia (fandsgarcia [at] gmail [dot] com)

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.