http://bridgehunter.com/ar/polk/mountain-fork-48/
I have heard that the bridge was never completed because a flood knocked over the piers, and I've heard that there was once a bridge there and it was removed but the piers were left standing and collapsed after the bridge was removed. What kind of bridge does it look like would have been here, and from what era? It appears there was going to be one long span and several short spans.
Just a wild guess and I've never been to Arkansas, but those abutments and piers look a lot like railroad from late 19th to early 20th century. There's an old interurban grade in Bellingham, Washington with concrete abutments and piers very much like that. The bridge deck was wood and has almost all decomposed, but the concrete remains. You might be able to find historic topo maps of that area that show a railroad or road there.
Quote from: bugo on August 06, 2012, 08:13:32 PM
http://bridgehunter.com/ar/polk/mountain-fork-48/
I have heard that the bridge was never completed because a flood knocked over the piers, and I've heard that there was once a bridge there and it was removed but the piers were left standing and collapsed after the bridge was removed. What kind of bridge does it look like would have been here, and from what era? It appears there was going to be one long span and several short spans.
Talk to Randall Houp: ghostbridgehunter at yahoo.com . I bet he might know.
It wasn't a railroad bridge because there was never a railroad in the area. It was definitely (or was planned to be) an automobile bridge.
Probably a dumb question, but was there a plan to put a canal through here, and these piers were going to support a high bridge across it?
No canals in this part of the country. It was definitely a road bridge.
Quote from: bugo on September 07, 2012, 08:49:13 PM
No canals in this part of the country.
The McClellan-Kerr project is relatively close, innit?
Quote from: NE2 on September 07, 2012, 08:59:01 PM
Quote from: bugo on September 07, 2012, 08:49:13 PM
No canals in this part of the country.
The McClellan-Kerr project is relatively close, innit?
No. The Mcclellan-Kerr project runs through Ft Smith, 80 miles from Mena via car. This bridge is in Polk County over the Mountain Fork River, a small mountain stream. The only boats that follow this stream are canoes and small fishing boats.
Only negative info to report, I'm afraid. The historic topo maps show nothing, although it does appear to be on the section line, suggesting that perhaps it was intended as a slight realignment of the county road.
It also might have been for a short line or logging railroad, but those should have shown up on the old tops, which go back into the 1800s.
There is a low water bridge to the north, the collapsed piers in the middle, and the 1979 concrete bridge to the south. I can remember when the low water bridge was in service and the concrete bridge was being built.
If I'd only known the question would arise, I could have paddled upriver from Camp Pioneer in the summer of 1971 to see.