Arkansas county expands its future by preserving a 19th-century bridge

Key Takeaways

Saline County, Ark. is finishing up its restoration of a 134-year-old bridge — the oldest in the state remaining in its original location — that will connect a 65-mile pedestrian and bike trail spanning from Little Rock to Hot Springs the county is also working to build.   

The Old River Bridge, which was featured in Arkansas native Billy Bob Thornton’s 1996 thriller “Sling Blade,” was deemed unsafe in 1974 due to its deterioration. It -at relatively abandoned for nearly 45 years, until the county secured a series of grants to begin its restoration process, which is now coming to a close, as it’s set to open at the end of this month. 

The process started with disassembling the bridge, which was sent off to a historic bridge specialist in Michigan, who refurbished as much of the original structure as possible and replaced deteriorated sections with newly cast steel. 

The pieces were then returned to Saline County to be reassembled in its original location. 

The county has faced a series of obstacles throughout the restoration process, including a historic flood in the middle of construction that left the county scrambling to secure the delicate bridge, with flood waters rising above 27 feet, according to Saline County Judge Matt Brumley. 

“There are hurdles, so now let’s figure out how [to get over them],” Brumley said. 

“Whether it be an easement that is hard to obtain, whether it be working with Union Pacific, whether it be literally ‘How are we going to get this old rivet to work on this old bridge?’ 

“… A number of challenges are thrown at us all the time, but we’re people that welcome challenges, because we know that we’ll be able to resolve them.” 

The bridge will connect to the 65-mile Southwest Trail, a broader project Saline County is working on with its neighbors, Garland and Pulaski counties, as it will span across the three counties. 

The first phase of the trail, a four-mile-stretch (running from the Saline County line), opened in April, and once it’s completed, the bike and pedestrian trail will eventually connect Little Rock to Hot Springs. 

“This is not just a recreational project,” said Pulaski County Judge Barry Hyde at the phase one ribbon-cutting ceremony. “It’s about connecting communities, promoting health and creating new opportunities for economic development.”

Garland, Pulaski and Saline counties all working together on the trail project has made it a much smoother process, and helped to secure state and federal funding, according to Brumley. 

“We have worked hand in hand,” Brumley said. “We understand that working independently, we can be productive, but that we can just be really powerful through the synergies of working together and planning together. As late as last week, we gathered together to say, ‘What are each other’s next steps?’ so that we know that we’re working in complement and not against productivity, on what the other partner is doing in these areas.

“And when we go out and look for funds, to say, ‘Hey, all three of us are in,’ has been very significant.”

All said and done, it’s roughly $6 million to restore the Old River Bridge, which includes costs such as new decking, landscaping around the bridge, building barges in the river and implementing updated safety regulations (as one can imagine, there weren’t many back in the 19th century, Brumley noted), such as handrails. 

The majority of the funding for the bridge restoration is coming from state and federal grants, including $1 million through the U.S. Economic Development Administration, and Saline County is supplementing the rest, although the county hasn’t matched more than 20% of any grant it’s received, Brumley noted. 

The Arkansas Department of Transportation, Central Arkansas Planning and Development and the local Metropolitan Planning Organization have also helped support the project, and moving forward, the county is looking to leverage public-private philanthropic partnerships to maintain the Old River Bridge and trailhead, he said. 

“We are looking forward to people knowing this is an opportunity to be a part of something great for generations to come, and we’re optimistic that will happen,” Brumley said. 

“Because once this is done, it doesn’t take care of itself — we’ve got to maintain it, and we want to think and imagine great things that we can do to continue to bring people to it.”

With its position over the Saline River, the bridge will also enhance visitors’ access to boating, canoeing, kayaking and fishing, Brumley added. 

“We have seen people say it has revitalized people’s enthusiasm for a jewel of a resource that we have in a river — keeping it clean, stabilizing our banks and being able to use that,” Brumley said. 

“To just go in that area and see how beautiful it is, I think it’s got some people really excited to take ownership and to take care of this area.”

Throughout the restoration process, Saline County has posted updates on its social media accounts, which has generated a lot of excitement in the community, particularly among its aging population who remember when the original bridge was active, according to Trevor Villines, the county’s communications director and a city council member in the county’s seat, Benton.

“When you go through and look at all the comments, it’s just tons and tons of people that’ve got story after story of, ‘I used to go down there and fish,’ or ‘That’s where I had my first date,’ or, ‘That was how I got to so and so’s house,” Villines said. 

More than 300 people attended the bridge’s renovation groundbreaking, and the county expects to have even more at its official unveiling on June 24. 

“People have longed for this project for a long time, and to see it come to fruition after so many years and the countless individuals who’ve helped make it possible — everybody’s excited, they’re passionate,” Villines said. 

“It seems like everywhere I go, somebody wants to know, ‘How is the Old River Bridge project? How are things going down there? Man, we’re so excited about that.’ So, there’s excitement everywhere.”