1961 US-49 Helena Bridge over Mississippi River at Helena, AR

(Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; John A. Weeks III; Satellite)

The Sunshine Bridge looks similar.

The length of the longest span is 840', and the bridge is almost a mile long. "The Helena Bridge was struck by a dragline crane as it was being towed upriver on July 15, 1997, resulting in the bridge being closed. A temporary pedestrian bridge was brought in to cross the damaged area of the bridge. A shuttle service was established to transport people from the marina on the west side of the river to the pedestrian bridge, where the passengers would cross the damaged section on foot using the temporary bridge, and then be picked up by a second shuttle to be transported to the Lady Luck Casino on the east side of the river. This shuttle service ran during the early morning and late afternoon to allow commuters to get to their jobs on the other side of the river. The bridge reopened on August 4, about two weeks earlier than initially predicted." [John Weeks]

C Hanchey Flickr, License: Attribution-NonCommercial (CC BY-NC) 
[Given the grain elevator in the background, I think this was taken on the upriver, Mississippi side.]

 

EncyclopediaOfArkansas, Courtesy of the Arkansas Department of Parks and Tourism

John Weeks
The photo above is the second bridge span from the west end of the structure. The main river navigation channel passes under this span

John Weeks
The photo above is a view of nearly the entire main bridge truss structure. This view is from about 3/4 of a mile downstream. There is enough scrub brush along the riverbank that it is hard to get a clear view from ground level. I ended up standing on top of my car.

ADOT via Bridge Hunter

Ramona Pace comment on Bridge Hunter
Flood of 2011
[Given the road next to the bridge, I believe this was taken on the downriver, Arkansas side.]

Michael Timpson, Dec 2020

Colin Gauthreaux posted, cropped
Helena. Making it slow but sure. Stephen Foster.

Screenshot