Description & Significance

The Leeper Bridge over the Black River is a 1933, twelve span bridge with eight steel girder approach spans (seven 47’ and one 48’ long), two 120’ Pratt through trusses and two 180’ Parker through trusses. The bridge has a 22’ wide concrete deck with concrete curbs and two tier channel railing

The Leeper Bridge replaced an earlier bridge constructed by Wayne County, common for large-scale bridges constructed in the 1920s and 1930s. The Leeper Bridge is distinguished because of its scale and types of spans used in its construction. It is among the longest of the bridges constructed in its era. While both the Pratt and Parker trusses were standard Missouri State Highway Department designs. The combination of them in the a bridge of this length and with the degree of physical integrity that the Leeper Bridge retains, is unusual.

The bridge is eligible for listing on the National Register of Historic Places under criterion C for local significance in engineering.

MoDOT’s Historic Preservation Section is now accepting proposals for the relocation and reuse of the bridge or its components until June 30, 2020. A proposal checklist is available MoDOT’s Free Bridges website (http://www.modot.org/freebridges/). Preservation covenants may accompany the bridge.