BENTON COUNTY (KFSM) — The historic War Eagle Bridge in Benton County reopened Tuesday morning (Dec. 29) following flooding that closed down the area Sunday and Monday.
While the flood waters dumped debris in the area, they didn’t damage the structure of the more-than-100-year-old bridge, Benton County Road Department Director Jeff Clark said.
The water that surrounded War Eagle Bridge also surrounded nearby War Eagle Mill. The flooding overtook the water wheel, basement, first floor and nearly reached the windows on the second floor. On Tuesday, the mill’s owners began assessing the damage, a process which could take several days.
Clark said the road department and Benton County Emergency Management also began assessing the damage to roads across the county Tuesday. He said they’ve divided the county into six sections and have sent a team to each area to make the process more manageable. The crews are looking at which roads can be temporarily repaired and adding up the monetary damage to infrastructure, Clark said.
Nearly 40 roads were still closed in Benton County Tuesday, according to the road department.
Benton County is one of 12 counties that have been declared a disaster area by Arkansas Governor Asa Hutchinson. The declaration also includes Washington, Carroll, Madison, Franklin, Logan, Calhoun, Drew, Ouachita, Perry, Polk and Searcy counties.
