The Beaver Bridge in Beaver, Arkansas, is a historic one-lane suspension bridge carrying Arkansas Highway 187 over the White River at Table Rock Lake. Built in 1949 by the Pioneer Construction Company, the structure is the only suspension bridge open to traffic in Arkansas. The Beaver Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1990.[2]
Beaver Bridge | |
|---|---|
 Facing north, the bridge is decorated in red, white and blue bunting to celebrate Independence Day | |
| Coordinates | 36°28′15″N 93°46′06″W / 36.4708°N 93.7683°W |
| Carries | One lane of  AR 187, pedestrians and bicycles |
| Crosses | Table Rock Lake (an impoundment of the White River) |
| Locale | Beaver, Carroll County, Arkansas |
| Maintained by | Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department (AHTD) |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension |
| Material | Steel with timber decking |
| Total length | 554.2 ft (168.9202 m) |
| Width | 11.2 ft (3.414 m) (roadway) 12.1 ft (3.688 m) (deck) |
| Height | 746 ft (227.4 m) |
| Longest span | 312.0 ft (95.0976 m) |
| Clearance above | 13.8 ft (4.206 m) |
| History | |
| Designer | AHTD |
| Construction start | December 19, 1947 |
| Construction end | 1949 |
| Opened | 1949 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 650[1] |
| Designated | April 9, 1990[2] |
| Reference no. | 90000730 |
| Location | |
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History
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The bridge was bid on December 19, 1947, to Pioneer Construction Company of Malvern, Arkansas. The construction foreman who led the project was M. R. Blair (1914-2014), who later served as lead foreman on numerous bridge and highway projects across Arkansas, Missouri, and Tennessee, and who led the construction of numerous dams, highways and bridges throughout the southwestern United States, including the 1964 Big I interchange of Interstates 25 and 40 in Albuquerque, New Mexico. Remarkably, Blair and his team completed the project without the benefit of an industrial crane, using only a pickup-mounted, knuckle-boom type crane.
Since the construction was coincident with the building of Table Rock Dam, completion was delayed until 1949 as the United States Army Corps of Engineers required the bridge to be raised 40 feet (12 m). Upon completion, the bridge remained a vital link for the citizens of Beaver until its closure for major deck rehabilitation in 1981. Further rehabilitation occurred in 2003.[3] The bridge has a 10-ton weight limit. The bridge was temporarily closed for inspection in October 2018 after two overweight buses crossed it.[4]
See also
edit- List of bridges documented by the Historic American Engineering Record in Arkansas
- List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Arkansas
- National Register of Historic Places listings in Carroll County, Arkansas
United States portal
Transport portal
Engineering portal
National Register of Historic Places portal
References
edit- ^ Planning and Research Division (2012). "Arkansas Road Log Database". Arkansas State Highway and Transportation Department. Archived from the original (MDB) on June 23, 2011. Retrieved May 3, 2013.
- ^ a b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
- ^ Swanda, Michael (August 16, 1988). "Beaver Bridge" (PDF). Historic American Engineering Record. Washington, D.C.: Library of Congress. Retrieved June 29, 2013.
- ^ "Beaver Bridge reopened after video shows it sag beneath bus". KTHV-TV. October 17, 2018. Retrieved October 27, 2018.
External links
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- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) No. AR-53, "Beaver Bridge, Spanning White River at State Highway No. 187, Beaver, Carroll County, AR", 7 photos, 7 data pages, 1 photo caption page