MULBERRY, Ark. — The final stages of construction are wrapping up for the replacement of a historic bridge in Mulberry.
The Silver Bridge over the Mulberry River has been important to citizens for decades, not only because of its history but also because it connects Franklin and Crawford counties.
Mulberry Mayor Gary Baxter said over time, the historic, one-lane bridge deteriorated with use so much, even with regular repairs, that it simply wasn’t safe to drive on.
School buses and emergency vehicles had to take alternate routes, and the Franklin County side of the bridge would often flood, preventing drivers from crossing.
Over the last year, crews have been working to build a new, two-lane bridge in the same spot.
Mayor Baxter said the new bridge will extend further to the east and be elevated on the Franklin County side to prevent flooding and bring much-needed safety improvements to the vital connection between counties.
“Just close by is Interstate 40 and Highway 64,” Baxter said. “Both have bridges across the Mulberry River. However, the people that live in the immediate vicinity in that part of Franklin County and that part of Crawford County and are transitioning back and forth would have to drive a long distance to find another route … to be able to go across another area to get to their residences and their farms,” Baxter said.
While the old bridge has been taken down, Baxter says he knows the community will always remember it.
“I have a little section of it, kind of a memento, like maybe a foot-long section of a bridge that they just cut out and said, ‘Here's part of it you can put up somewhere and say, ‘Hey, here's a reminder that the old Silver Bridge was part of Mulberry,’’ but there's many, many hundreds of photographs of the old bridge, and the memories of the bridge are through the photographs,” Baxter said.
Right now, crews are finishing pouring concrete for the new bridge’s decking and approaches.
The new bridge is expected to be ready around Christmas time.