Highway 19 - Current River Bridges

Shannon County, Mo

Missouri state highway 19 is a lovely two-lane road that winds through the northern Ozark mountains in south central Missouri. As the highway passes through the Ozark National Scenic Riverway, it crosses three concrete arch bridges.

The northernmost of the three bridges crosses Sinking Creek, a tributary of the Current River just to the west (37.30285264812628, -91.41260147094727)". The bridge is a 2-rib, open spandrel concrete arch with three 80-foot spans and a total length of 339 feet. It was built in 1925 for $38,724 and bears structure number H 79.

Highway 19 05/25/2009 13:00	Highway 19 05/25/2009 13:00
Highway 19 05/25/2009 13:00	Sinking Creek bridge viewed from the north 05/25/2009 13:00
Sinking Creek bridge 05/25/2009 13:01	Sinking Creek Bridge viewed from north 05/25/2009 13:40
Sinking Creek Bridge 05/25/2009 13:41	Nameplate 05/25/2009 13:41
Nameplate 05/25/2009 13:41	Creek and east side of bridge 05/25/2009 13:42
Sinking Creek east of the bridge 05/25/2009 13:42	West side of bridge 05/25/2009 13:44
Current River east of Sinking Creek Bridge 05/25/2009 13:47	Current River State Park sign 05/25/2009 13:52

About a mile further south is a the Current River Bridge (37.28641401964218, -91.40906095504761). The river is fed by cold springs and is heavily used for recreation. The concrete filled spandrel arch has five spans (the longest 130 feet) with a total length of 602 feet. It was built in 1924 at a cost of $71,471.39 and bears structure number G804A. Just to the east of the highway bridge is a pedestrian bridge of much newer origin that connects recreational areas on either side of the river.

Highway 19 05/25/2009 13:02	Canoe rental 05/25/2009 13:02
Narrow Bridge 05/25/2009 13:02	Current River bridge viewed from the north 05/25/2009 13:02
Current River bridge viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:06	Bridges viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:06
Nameplate 05/25/2009 13:06	East side of the bridge 05/25/2009 13:06
Southernmost arch 05/25/2009 13:07	Deck of pedestrian bridge viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:07
East side of bridge 05/25/2009 13:07	Pier 05/25/2009 13:08
Arches over the Current River 05/25/2009 13:08	Pier in the river 05/25/2009 13:08
Guardrail 05/25/2009 13:09	Southern arches viewed from the west 05/25/2009 13:09
Pier 05/25/2009 13:09	Southern abutment 05/25/2009 13:09
East side of bridge looking south 05/25/2009 13:09	Canoe passing under bridge 05/25/2009 13:09
Current River headed east 05/25/2009 13:10	Pier in the river with flotsam 05/25/2009 13:10
East side of bridge 05/25/2009 13:11	Deck looking north 05/25/2009 13:12
Nameplate 05/25/2009 13:12	Pedestrian bridge 05/25/2009 13:13

The southernmost of the trio of bridges crosses a valley where Round Spring feeds into the Current River. (37.28641401964218, -91.40906095504761). The bridge is a two-rib, open spandrel concrete arch with one main 150-foot span with concrete deck girder approach spans on both ends for a total length of 523 feet. The bridge was built in 1930 for $70,152.85 and bears structure number J 420.

Round Spring Bridge arch viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:16	Guardrail wear 05/25/2009 13:16
Round Spring Bridge arch viewed from the southeast 05/25/2009 13:16	Round Spring Bridge arch viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:17
Deck girder 05/25/2009 13:17	Spring water flow roadway under bridge 05/25/2009 13:19
Water flow 05/25/2009 13:19	Spring water 05/25/2009 13:19
Arch viewed from the northeast 05/25/2009 13:20	Roadway passing under south deck 05/25/2009 13:24
Round Spring Bridge deck viewed from southeast 05/25/2009 13:28	Deck viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:28
Deck viewed from the south 05/25/2009 13:28	Deck 05/25/2009 13:29
Nameplate 05/25/2009 13:29	Deck and guardrails 05/25/2009 13:29
Ozark Riverways map 05/25/2009 13:32	Deck viewed from south 05/25/2009 13:35

Additional details are available from the Missouri DOT Historic Bridge Inventory