Saline River Bridge, Benton Arkansas
The Saline River Bridge was one of Arkansas' best unaltered examples of a reinforced-concrete, open spandrel, deck arch bridge.
Designed by the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department, Bridge Engineering Division, under the supervision of N.B. Garver, Chief Bridge Engineer, and constructed by the Arkansas General Construction Company of Little Rock in 1928, this bridge was one of only 10 unaltered examples of the open-spandrel, reinforced-concrete, deck arches surviving in Arkansas.
The Saline River Bridge was constructed as part of a six bridge improvement project on the Benton-Malvern Road beginning two miles west of Benton. It clearly reflects the AHTD's substantial influence in reinforced-concrete bridge design and construction during the Arkansas Highway and Transportation Department Era: 1923-1939.
The bridge was demolished prior to September 2001.
The Saline River Bridge was a reinforced concrete, open-spandrel, deck arch that spans the Saline River immediately east of the town of Benton on old U.S. Highway 67. Its two main spans and approaches cross an extensive river valley in an east-west direction and were in fair to poor condition.
This bridge has a total length of 1,218 feet, comprised of two arched spans 110 feet in length with reinforced concrete girder approach spans on both ends. The east approach contains two spans measuring 25 feet each. The west approach contains twenty-seven spans, each measuring 35 feet in length. The bridge contains 2,632 cubic feet of cast concrete, 3,580 linear feet of precast concrete piling, 3,580 linear feet of concrete railing, and 460,444 pounds of reinforced steel.
The height of the arch in each span is approximately 33 feet above the spring line of the center pier. Six reinforced concrete spandrel columns, square in section with caps at the top and bottom, rise from each arch to support stringers that are incorporated into the road deck that is 20 feet wide. A concrete handrail, 2.5 feet high, runs the entire length of the bridge on both sides of the roadway.
A commemorative plaque, on the right-hand side of both ends of the bridge, states "Saline River; Ark. General Const. Co.; Contractor; Arkansas; State Highway Department; 1928, Bridge No. ____".
In 1973, one of the approach spans on the west end collapsed and was replaced with a steel girder span with steel side rails.
(1990)
(1990)
(1990)
South Elevation (1988)
South Elevation (1988)
South Elevation of West Approach Spans (1988)
Roadway of West Approach (1988)
East Approach and Bridge Commemorative Plaque (1988)
