Ouachita River Bridge Needs a New Home

[US71]

http://www.magnoliareporter.com/news_and_business/regional_news/article_68a03b36-71cc-11eb-9dad-d7060cfa6c12.html

Old AR 51 bridge at Arkadelphia is available for reuse following it's replacement in 2018. ARDOT was originally going to tear down the bridge, then decided to leave it. Now they want it moved.

[cjk374]

I was hoping it would have been used as a pedestrian bridge. I bet they built a boring drab looking bridge in its place huh.

[US71]

I was hoping it would have been used as a pedestrian bridge. I bet they built a boring drab looking bridge in its place huh.

You bet!

[rte66man]

I seem to recall other threads about various DOTs wanting someone to "come get" old truss bridges.  Does anyone know anecdotally how successful they have been in getting suckers, errr. others to take a bridge off their hands?

[bwana39]

I posted this somewhere else.

They don't necessarily want it moved, they just want it off their hands. If there is a qualified local group or governmental agency that wants to take over responsibility for it, from what I read, it can be kept in place.

The bottom line is ARDOT wants rid of the liability.

It is above the navigational reach of the Ouachita. The Corps should only be concerned in its complete failure. Navigational issues are negligible.

[US71]

I seem to recall other threads about various DOTs wanting someone to "come get" old truss bridges.  Does anyone know anecdotally how successful they have been in getting suckers, errr. others to take a bridge off their hands?

Some, but not all. Lee Creek bridge on AR 59 was offered, but the original taker backed out of their offer to take it, so the bridge was razed.

But the White River bridge was rescued by West Fork for a water park.

[Road Hog]

I figure ARDOT will just give it to you if you can foot the bill for disassembly and reassembly, which has to be in the multiple hundreds of thousands. If you think a rusted nut on a 1975 Chrysler is tough, imagine a 1930 model.

[US71]

I figure ARDOT will just give it to you if you can foot the bill for disassembly and reassembly, which has to be in the multiple hundreds of thousands. If you think a rusted nut on a 1975 Chrysler is tough, imagine a 1930 model.

I think they have set aside some money for disassembly/reassembly.

[Rick Powell]

I have been involved in several historic bridge advertisements, and never had a taker. The few successful ones I have heard of around the US were very short spans that were manageable to remove and reassemble elsewhere. We did wind up preserving one along old US 66 at Towanda IL for a pedestrian trail, instead of demolishing it according to the original plan.

I looked at the Historic Bridge Foundation's website and most of their examples were preservation in place. Of their dozens of success stories of mostly rehabbing in place, they only had two examples of short bridges that were removed, relocated and rehabbed. See the Burroughs Street and Fairview-Snodgrass bridges.
http://historicbridgefoundation.com/save-a-bridge/historic-bridge-rehabilitation-case-studies/historic-bridge-rehabilitation-case-studies-a-f/

[edwaleni]

The Wabash & Erie Canal Association in Indiana has accepted several truss bridges from Indiana DOT for rehabilitation and re-installation on their property in Delphi, indiana.

https://wabashanderiecanal.org/wabash-erie-canal-historic-bridges-delphi-in/

I would say their biggest is a Pennsylvania Through Truss from 1898 that was placed over the Hoosier Heartland Expressway for their Monon Trail. It is an amazing sight when you drive under it.

[bugo]

Arkansas DOT advertised they were offering a concrete viaduct in NLR for free. How would you move a concrete bridge? This was a regular stringer bridge with a hump shape. I would think that as soon as you started disassembling it, it would just crumble to dust.

[bwana39]

Arkansas DOT advertised they were offering a concrete viaduct in NLR for free. How would you move a concrete bridge? This was a regular stringer bridge with a hump shape. I would think that as soon as you started disassembling it, it would just crumble to dust.

You cut the deck and lift the segments and place them on a carriage. Transport is much like moving a house.  It is the opposite to how they move in remotely fabricated concrete bridge segments. 

Another possibility is someone just wants particular parts such as the stringers (either concrete or steel)

My guess is someone already wants this particular bridge or parts of it and the requirement is the controlling agency (ARDOT?) has to solicit bids as opposed to just giving it away.

[ethanhopkin14]

Did they post the bridge in the free section of Craigslist?