1930 Cotter and 1905 MNA/MoPac/SIMS Bridges over White River at Cotter, AR

Cotter: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; HAER; Satellite)

MoPac: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

MNA = Missouri & Northern Arkansas

SIMS = St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern

Street View, Jul 2023

Bridges Now and Then posted
Cotter Bridge, Flippin, Arkansas. (Historic American Engineering Record, Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, Washington, D.C.)
HAER ARK,3-COT,1--5
5. VIEW OF CENTER SPAN OF BRIDGE FROM RIVERBED, LOOKING SOUTHWEST - Cotter Bridge, Spanning White River at U.S. Highway 62, Cotter, Baxter County, AR

"Significance: The Cotter Bridge is the only bridge in Arkansas known to be designed and engineered by the Marsh Engineering Company, a significant twentieth-century bridge-building company. Among the largest they ever designed, it is also an excellent example of the company's patented Marsh Rainbow Arch. A unique feature of the bridge is that it was constructed by means of a cableway, suspended across the river, over which all materials were transported to various parts ofthe structure. The Cotter Bridge was instrumental in making accessible a new region of the Ozarks, an important recreational area in the United States. It became Arkansas' first National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1986." [HAER_data, at the end of that webpage are some blueprints for this bridge]

Fredrick Garcia via BridgeHunter_Cotter

Street View, Jul 2023

HAER ARK,3-COT,1--4
4. LOOKING NORTHEAST, GENERAL VIEW OF BRIDGE

HAER ARK,3-COT,1--10
10. VIEW OF BRIDGE UNDER CONSTRUCTION, SHOWING CENTRAL ARCH AND PIERS, WITH CABLEWAY ABOVE AND TOWER ON BACKGROUND

HistoricBridges_Cotter

"While the nearby state of Kansas may have the greatest quantity of surviving Marsh type rainbow arch bridges in the country, it is this single surviving example in Arkansas that is ironically also the greatest Marsh arch bridge. This bridge's impressive height over the waterway, enormous arch spans over the river (complimented by a single small arch span over railroad tracks), and the overall multi-span layout of this bridge that all combine to form what is the most impressive and historically significant Marsh rainbow arch bridge in the entire country. In a very real sense this bridge also represents the ultimate aesthetic potential of concrete in bridge construction. From every angle that this bridge is viewed it projects a profound beauty that is unmatched in more simple concrete bridge forms.

"Beautifully preserved, this bridge remains in good condition today. Repairs and replacements made, such as railing and lighting, are respective of the original bridge design."

[This is one of the few bridges that HistoricBridges rates with two 10s.]

MoPac Swing Bridge

The swing span is now over an island! I wonder how much further upstream steamboats used to travel on this river.

Street View, Jun 2014

Back when the channel was under the swing span.

Photo by Fredrick Garcia via BridgeHunter_MoPac

Photo by Nicky Elmore via BridgeHunter_MoPac

HistoricBridges_MoPac
"This bridge is unusual because it is fairly high above normal water level for a swing bridge. Most boats would be able to fit under this bridge. Today, the bridge is even more unusual because with trees growing under one of the swing span arms, and shallow water under the other, it is clear this river has not been navigable for large boats for a very long time!"

Missouri Pacific and St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern Maps (Overview)

This would be before they acquired the western part of the C&EI that allowed them to run trains to Chicago. (L&N got the eastern part.) At least some some of the tendrils into southern Illinois were to access coal mines.

Tyler Savvy posted
Missouri Pacific Railroad: Map, Locomotives, Logo, History

Dennis Ransone: Joint trackage from Pueblo to Denver.

Gaith Shtieh posted

But it looks like it had acquired the St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern.

cartweb

Larry Anderson commented on Gaith's post
…map from a Missouri Pacific timetable.

Leigh Elmore: Larry Anderson This one shows the lines to the Pacific, which are missing on the map on the original post.

Larry Anderson commented on Leigh's comment
 …yes, I believe MOPAC had agreements with SP, WP, D&RGW to run passenger trains on their connected tracks … the timetables could then be setup showing the MOPAC trains running “continuously” to the west coast. I zoomed in the western section and you can better see the other railroads named.

2012 Margaret Hunt Hill and 1930 UP/MoPac/Texas & Pacific Bridges over Trinity River in Dallas, TX

Margaret: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

Railroad: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Bridge Hunter; Historic Bridges; Satellite)

Street View, Mar 2025

Because the bridges go levee to levee over the floodplain, they have long approaches.

Street View, Mar 2025

Charles Davis Photography posted two photos with the comment: "Margaret and Friends..."

Charles Davis Photography shared with the comment:

Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge 

And the Pacific Railroad Bridge

Dallas TX

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The arches on the right belong to the Margaret McDermott Bridge. And that is a serious power-line pole on the far right.

Street View, Jan 2025

Jesse Berube via HistoricBridges

Bridges Now and Then posted
"The Texas & Pacific Railroad Trinity River Bridge (built 1930), and the Margaret Hunt Hill Bridge suspension bridge tower in the background, October 7, 2013." (Patrick Feller)

LA-1 and MoPac Bridges over the Intracoastal Waterway in West Baton Rouge, LA

LA-1: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

MoPac: (Archived Bridge Hunter; Satellite)

In the street view below, they are building the $57.7m phase one bridge. It was supposed to be completed in early 2023. [wbrparish]

Given the big gap still in the bridge in Mar 2024, they did not meet the original schedule.

Construction was halted in Spring 2023 "after DOTD found that the piers for the bridge were sinking more than expected.Since then, a fix was engineered, and the contractor, Kiewit Construction, has had a sub-contractor working on low mobility grouting to stabilize the piers. That is expected to be completed before the end of this year. Kiewit will begin construction work on the bridge again in early 2024." Phase one should be done by the end of 2024. [wafb]

Street View, Mar 2024

Kiewit Corporation posted four photos with the comment:

Progress continues in West Baton Rouge Parish as we work on constructing the new southbound LA-1 Intracoastal Bridge.

The construction of the southbound bridge is Phase 1 of a two-phase project to replace the existing bridges built 60 years ago. The new bridges will provide additional lanes and wider shoulders for more accessibility and safety, help with traffic congestion and be a more efficient route for hurricane evacuations in Louisiana. 

Kiewit is the general contractor on Phase 1. Phase 2 includes the demolition of the old bridges and the construction of the new northbound bridge.

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[Note the I-10 bridge over the Mississippi River in the right background.]

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The new bridge uses steel girders in the middle and concrete girders on the ends.

Street View, Mar 2024

There is a good view of the concrete girders on the north end.

Street View, Mar 2024

The Port Allen Lock is on the other side of this bridge.

Street View, Mar 2024

1907 Lost/MP/StLIM&S SUC Bridge Over Black River near Corning, AR

(Archived Bridge Hunter; no Historic Bridges; Satellite)

StLIM&S = St. Louis, Iron Mountain & Southern

SUC = Strauss Underneath Counterweight

Douglas Butler posted
From google.books.com bridgehunter.com St. Louis Mountain & Southern Railway Strauss Underneath Counterweight Bascule Bridge is removed in Corning, AR crossing the Black River.

Douglas Butler: Dennis DeBruler can you confirm this bridge being from Corning, AR or somewhere else?

Dennis DeBruler commented on Douglas' comment
At first, I didn't think so. The big piers are consistent with a short span on the north end and a long truss for the rest of the bridge, but the north pier is not consistent with the bridge abutment in the photo. (The small pier near the middle would have been added when they rebuilt the bridge with steel girders.) https://www.google.com/.../@36.3640128.../data=!3m1!1e3...

Dennis DeBruler commented on Douglas' comment
Then I found this May 2013 image of Google Earth. The north end is more consistent with the photo.

Dennis DeBruler commented on Douglas' comment
And this Sep 2020 image is even more consistent. But now I'm left with the question of why is the north end changing so much over a 10-year period? Google Earth provides a Nov 2022 date for the current satellite image.

UP/MoPac Bridge over Osage River at Osage City, MO

(Bridge Hunter broke Mar 22, 2023; Satellite)

Missouri's Historic Highways posted
Osage River 1932

Dennis DeBruler commented on the above post
This appears to be the first bridge across the river for the UP/Missouri Pacific Railroad. A second bridge has been added to allow a double-track route. It appears the second bridge is fixed, but they put the truss above the deck instead of under the deck for the navigation channel span to maximize the clearance.
https://www.google.com/maps/@38.5521697,-92.0264266,120m/data=!3m1!1e3?entry=ttu

1931 Bagnell Dam on Osage River creates Lake of the Ozarks

(Satellite)

I've heard of the Lake of the Ozarks as a tourist destination. When I learned that the river spanned by the US-65 bridge was called the Lake of the Ozarks, I decided to investigate. When I saw that the bridge was just downstream from the Truman Lake Dam, I figured the river at Warsaw was the upper reach of a reservoir for a downstream dam. So I looked for that dam and found this one.

cdm_2179, Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives

I Grew Up In Missouri posted
LAKE of the OZARKS, in its early beginnings at the DAM!  Note the lack of development. Even with all the grief this lake gets from the other Ozarks Lake social circles, this is a wonderful lake. In the OZARKS we are very lucky that ALL of our LAKES are GREAT LAKES with each their own special candy coating. If you’ve only experienced one of them, then you are missing all of them. 😎

cdm_2173, Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives

Md Nurujjaman Sarkar posted two photos with the comment:

The Lake of the Ozarks was created by the construction of the Bagnell Dam, which began on August 8, 1929. The clearing of the land, which included cutting down 30,000 acres of timber and demolishing the original town of Linn Creek, was part of the preparation for this dam and the subsequent flooding of the valley to form the lake. The dam was completed in April 1931, and the lake was filled and officially opened to boat traffic by May 1931. 

 Dam construction: The Bagnell Dam was the project that initiated the creation of the lake, with construction starting in 1929 and finishing in 1931.

 Land clearing: The 30,000 acres of timber were cut down and the area was cleared to prepare the basin for the lake. This was a significant and expensive part of the project.

 Linn Creek demolition: The original town of Linn Creek was demolished and submerged by the rising waters. Many buildings were torn down or moved to higher ground, with some residents relocating to the new Linn Creek or the new county seat of Camdenton.

 Lake formation: The dam's completion in April 1931 led to the lake reaching its full elevation by May 1931. It was officially opened to boat traffic on May 30, 1931.

Douglas Kolkmeyer: The clearing crews ran daylight to dark year round and they had to burn everything they cleared.

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Mark Pitts posted
From Boring Postcards
Brett Wanamaker shared

Ameren

- Bagnell Dam was the largest - and last - major dam in the U.S. to be built with private investment.
- Bagnell Dam is one-half mile long, rising 148 feet high from bedrock. That’s comparable to a building 12 stories high and seven blocks long. It holds back 600 billion gallons of water.
- Ameren Missouri invested $53 million in upgrades at Bagnell Dam in 2017 and 2018, including 67 post-tensioned anchors and more than 66 million pounds of new concrete to weigh down the dam and secure it into the bedrock. 
- Missouri’s Lake of the Ozarks is one of the largest man-made lakes in the world, covering 86 square miles in four counties. [It was the largest man-made lake in the USA when it was created.]

Ameren
It was the only major construction project in the country after the stock market crashed two months after work began on the dam. It started producing power on Oct 16, 1931, just two years after construction began. [Below is a source that says it was completed in 18.5 months.]

Mike Elking posted, cropped

The Birth of the Lake

In February 1931, the Bagnell Dam was finally completed, and the Osage River began to fill the valley. What was once rolling farmland and river bluffs started transforming into the Lake of the Ozarks—at the time, the largest man-made lake in the world.

MargaritaVilleRestortLakeOfTheOzarks

sos, Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives
"The Lake of the Ozarks is one of the largest man-made lakes in the United States. With a surface area of 55,000 acres, stretching 92 miles from end to end, and over 1,150 miles of shoreline, this lake brings in millions of dollars in tourism to Missouri each year."
A collection of 845 photographs

Kathy Heintz Powell posted two photos with the comment: "Bagnell Dam Osage Hydro Plant at Lake Ozark, MO. My work home for 36 years of the almost 41 years with Ameren."

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It looks like they first built every other bay.

cdm_2586, Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives
Image showing the view looking west from the north east corner of the spillway cofferdam.

This photo confirms that they started with alternating bays.

cdm_2773, Courtesy of the Missouri State Archives
Image showing an upstream view of the spillway.

 

MillerCountyMuseum
"The dam is of concrete gravity type, 2,543 feet long. It consists of a 511 foot long power station, 520 foot long spillway section and two non-overflow retaining sections adjacent to the river banks. The dam supports a concrete highway structure, which includes a 20 foot wide roadway and a three foot wide sidewalk, both spanning the entire length of the dam."

MillerCountyMuseum, CityOfLakeOzark has the same information.
The power company that built this dam also operated the Keokuk Dam.
"The accomplishments achieved during the building of Bagnell Dam are incredible. When added to the fact that the project was completed in 18 ½ months, four months ahead of schedule, they become nearly incomprehensible."
In addition to the dam and transmission lines, roads and a village for the workers also had to be built.
[The article has a detailed timeline of the construction.]

Google Photo Index

Google Photo Index

I have not been able to find the MW capacity of the dam.

Photo, Jun 2022

Another reminder that 2019 was a very wet year in the USA.

Susan Murphy 0:26 video, Jun 2019

Jeff Lange, May 2021, cropped

April Napper, Jul 2019

Missouri's Historic Highways posted
May 1952 US 54 at Bagnell Dam