Frisco - Fort Smith Bridge -- Van Buren AR
N 35° 25.971 W 094° 21.879
15S E 376128 N 3921901
1916 drawbridge with cable pulleys to lift the bridge deck out of the way of passing boat traffic on the Arkansas River just west of downtown Van Buren AR
Waymark Code: WMN8XJ
Location: Arkansas, United States
Date Posted: 01/21/2015
Views: 4
An awesome 1916 drawbridge (with a vertical lift span installed in 1976) over the Arkansas River just west of Van Buren. The bridge was built by the St Louis and San Francisco Railroad, that now serves the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad.
From the Bridgehunter website: (
visit link)
"Overview: Vertical-lift through truss bridge over the Arkansas River on the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad between Fort Smith and Van Buren in Van Buren
Location: Van Buren, Sebastian County, Arkansas, and Crawford County, Arkansas
Status: Under Repairs due to cables snapping on the lift section Jan. 21, 2014; reopened after span was lowered Jan. 23, 2014. Repairs are ongoing to allow to bridge to lift again.
History: Originally built by the St. Louis-San Francisco Railroad, now used by the Arkansas & Missouri Railroad
Design: Vertical lift Warren through truss
Also called: Frisco - Fort Smith Bridge."
But if you want the FULL history of the multiple bridges here, including AWESOME historic photos and disaster pics of floods that washed away sections of this bridge, see this AMAZING website by Mike Conden: (
visit link)