Bridges Between

This is my first post for Bridges Between. So join me on ...
A trip down Memory Lane
If you travel south on Hwy 79, Right on the county line between Saline and Grant counties, Arkansas, you will arrive at the Saline River Bridge. It used to be called the Tull Bridge. The bridge is in fair shape and is open to vehicular traffic. But this is not the bridge that sticks out in my memory.

When I was a young girl, and also when I was a teen-ager, we would drive for about 45 minutes to get to my dad’s favorite swimming spot. He would get off the road at the Tull Bridge, and then we would drive right next to the river, heading west for about a mile. I remember being afraid that the car would fall into the river. When he could go no farther we would get out and walk the rest of the way. It was a 10-minute walk from our parking spot. We’d often get stuck I the mud, and dad would get his “come-alongs” out and pull his old ’68 Chevy BelAir out of the mud. You could hear a train coming from miles away. We always wanted to hurry before it got there and count the cars being pulled. I’m not sure why but we were afraid of being too close.

We’d walk under the old bridge and admire her. She was so far overhead. We'd also search for flint up under the railroad bridge.

If we were in the river swimming and a train was coming, my father would tell us all to be quiet. I’m not sure why this was worthy of our reverence, but we’d all stop playing and stand in quiet awe as the train passed by.

I almost drowned in that river when I was 8or9 years old. I had just learned a few basics of swimming, and thought I was doing a great job, when I got over my head. I tried to stand up and couldn’t. I started to panic, and after what seemed to be an eternity, my dad ran into the river… he didn’t even want to swim that day. Well, he rescued me. He always called me a limp dishrag after that. I remember him trying to dry his driver’s license and photos.

How well I remember gathering up the old mussel shells and seeing the center pier from the lost bridge. In this photo it is visible behind the remaining railroad bridge.
One standing and one lost… railroad bridges over the Saline River south of Benton, near Old River Bridge. The center pier from the lost bridge is visible behind the remaining railroad bridge. It was built in 1899 and it was closed to traffic in 1974.
The bridge that stands today is a Single Warren through truss with two pony plate girder spans. The bridge that was lost was a Two-span Pratt through truss.

To learn what Bridges Between is all about look at RuneE's blog here.