Little Black River Bridge, Ripley County, Route 142
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Bridge Location
County: Ripley
Road: Route 142
Feature Crossed: Little Black River
Other Location Information: approximately 1.25 miles north of Naylor
Structure Number or County Bridge Number: Bridge No. L0378
Bridge Information
Owner: MoDOT
Type: Three Pratt pony truss spans
Length: 157’ total, three 51’ truss spans
Width: 18’ wide roadway
Year Built: 1949
Builder: Blackburn & Whiteside, Mammoth Springs, Arkansas
Current Load Rating: The bridge is posted for trucks over 15 tons 15 MPH on the bridge
History of Modifications, Rehabilitations, etc.: See below
Other Comments: 26 degree skew
For further information, interested parties may contact
Name: Karen Daniels, Sr. Historic Preservation Specialist
Organization: Missouri Department of Transportation
Address: MoDOT Design Division, Historic Preservation Section, P.O. Box 270, Jefferson City, MO 65101
E-Mail: Karen.daniels@modot.mo.gov
Phone: 573-526-7346
Narrative Description
The three Pratt trusses in Bridge L0378 were fabricated by the American Bridge Company in 1922 for use in Stoddard County on Route 25 over the Castor River (constructed under project 25-FA-187, as bridge 1028R). The bridge was replaced when Route 25 was realigned in 1948. The field check for the Little Black River crossing in Ripley County was made in January 1949. The recommendation was to reuse the old trusses removed from Route 25 in Stoddard County. The bridge would have 3-50' trusses and an 18' roadway. The gas pipe handrail would be replaced with new channels and the substructure would be timber bents with concrete caps. Bridge L0378 was constructed as part of 2.092 miles of improvements to Missouri 142 that included grading, gravel, culverts and constructing this bridge. Bids for the project were received on June 3, 1949, and the Blackburn & Whiteside Company of Mammoth Springs, Arkansas was the low bidder, with a bid of $43,569.46. The project was awarded on June 10, 1949; the contractors received notice to proceed on July 18, 1949. The project was completed on September 22, 1950. The completed cost of the bridge was $20,058.90.
The bridge was determined eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under criteria A and C during consultation for the Pre-1952 Pony Truss Programmatic Agreement as the only surviving multi-span Pratt pony truss surviving on the State Highway System and as an example of how bridges were reused on the supplementary system when the primary system was upgraded.
MoDOT’s Historic Preservation Section is now accepting proposals for the relocation and reuse of the bridge or its components until December 31, 2018. A proposal checklist is available MoDOT’s Free Bridges website (http://www.modot.org/freebridges/). Preservation covenants may accompany the bridge.