Dardanelle pontoon bridge

The bridge was used for nearly four decades in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, except for periods when its operation was interrupted by high river flows or other disruptions.

[3] According to the 1922 Scientific American article, Replacing a private ferry when it opened in 1891, the structure operated as a toll bridge.

It was damaged by persistent high winds, sunk by heavy snow, and threatened by driftwood and, occasionally, floating ice.

During high flow and flood periods, the entire structure could be disconnected, swung out, and anchored along the river banks.

There were five anchor piers across the river about 100 yards upstream of the bridge and were built in the shape of a pyramid, with a sharp edge turned to the current, and heavily ballasted with rock.

A small stern-wheel steamboat was kept in commission to handle the structure and, in conjunction with a barge, serve as a freight and passenger ferry when the bridge was "out.

[10] The pontoon bridge, when completed, eliminated the need for the ferry which, at times, was an expensive bottleneck for freight traffic.

The construction of pontoon bridges at Dardanelle and Pine Bluff was authorized by the 51st United States Congress in 1890.

[11] The Dardanelle Pontoon Bridge and Turnpike Company was incorporated on November 13, 1890,[12] with material already on the ground in anticipation of construction.

Jacob L. Shinn of Russellville, who owned a steam ferry that operated at the Dardanelle river crossing, was granted an injunction early in the first week of January 1891[18] restraining the pontoon bridge company from using his land on the north side of the river as an approach to their bridge.

[30] Arkansas River flooding on May 2, 1893, resulted in bank caving at Norristown, the D&R Railroad lost several feet of track, and the wagon road had fallen in so that no hauling could be done until a new right-of-way was secured.

The pontoon bridge was swung open in time to save it,[31][32] though part did break loose but was captured and cabled to the bank about two miles below Dardanelle.

After the venue was changed to Conway County, that court ruled in favor of Shinn for $5,000, less than the full worth of his ferry operation.

[42] In another incident later that month, 12 boats of the bridge broke loose in a rise of the river and floated ten miles downstream.

[49] A high wind blowing from the southeast on April 8, 1903, forced the pontoon bridge upriver and several of the boats were sunk.

The steamer Alva, which, when connected with a barge used for that purpose, would not be placed into ferry service with the ice flowing downstream.

[58] Two mules owned by Captain Edgar Shinn of the Dardanelle Transfer Company backed off the bridge on February 20, 1908, and were lost.

[59] A man who had lost his team of horses and wagon in the Arkansas River in September 1908, Moses Croom, sued the Dardanelle Pontoon Bridge and Turnpike Company in Yell County Circuit Court, claiming the company was negligent in not keeping a substantial railing on the side of the bridge to prevent the wagon from going overboard.

[61] The main middle tower of the pontoon bridge went adrift on December 3, 1908, from a large accumulation of floating debris and the force of the flow of water.

[63] State Senator Martin of Yell county explained that slightly higher tolls were needed so that the bridge company didn't operate at a loss.

[66] Lightning struck a telephone pole in the middle of the Arkansas River on May 17, 1915, and severely shocked the custodian of the pontoon bridge.

[67] As of the end of May, the pontoon bridge had been towed to safety on the banks and crossing was made via steam ferry.

[69] Phone communication across the river was lost on January 31, 1916, when one of the bridge's anchor piers (towers) was swept away during record flooding, breaking the Southwestern Telegraph and Telephone Company wires.

[70] Residents of Pope and Yell were against a bill in early 1917 to reduce toll fares across the pontoon by nearly fifty percent.

[71] D&R Railroad placed a sixteen-passenger "motor bus" in service in 1918 to transport passengers over the bridge between the end of their line and Dardanelle.

[82] Preliminary work for a new, permanent bridge began early in 1926 after construction bonds were approved by voters in Yell and Pope Counties in 1925.

[86] The new free $600,000 steel and concrete bridge at Dardanelle, linking Yell and Pope Counties, was dedicated on January 17, 1929.