The first major bridging operations in Missouri were on the East Coast of the state, along the Mississippi River, specifically in St. Louis. In 1867 - following the end of the Civil War - James Eads began construction of an arch bridge across the river, which would connect Illinois to Missouri. Completed in 1874, the Eads Bridge was deemed the largest arch bridge in the world at the time, measuring 6,442 feet. The Eads Bridge, like many others along the Mississippi, eased the burden of those traveling west by eliminating the need to ford the expansive river. With Missouri and western America now in the line of sight for weary Southerners looking to start a new life, an influx of settlers began pouring into the state. By the late nineteenth century, St. Louis was considered the fourth largest city in the nation, and by the dawn of the twentieth century the burgeoning population was putting a severe strain on the public utilities and resources of the state. So, from 1929 to 1931 a large civil works project that included the construction of roads, railways, infrastructure, powerhouses, the Bagnell Dam and the resultant Lake of the Ozarks were undertaken, helping to generate hydro-electric power for the Union Electric Company out of St. Louis. At its completion the Lake of the Ozarks was deemed the largest man-made, non-flood control lake in America at 90 miles long, with over 1,100 miles of shoreline.
It is important to understand the history of the Lake of the Ozarks; while the original intent of the Bagnell Dam project on the Osage River was to generate hydroelectric power, the creation of the lake generated new businesses in the form of marinas, campgrounds, boat tours and a pantheon of small, recreational themed shops. However, while the creation of the lake had its socio-economic impacts on the people of Miller, Camden, Benton and Morgan Counties, it also had a physiographic impact on the surrounding land and communities.
When the Bagnell Dam was finished in the spring of 1931 - four months ahead of schedule - the area dredged out for the Lake of the Ozarks quickly filled out. However, as the water pushed its way down the branches of the serpentine lake, pre-existing streams and creeks turned into full fledged rivers and tributaries. Where a stream had once cut across an old dirt road outside of Tuscumbia, a river now ran. Seeing the necessity to either realign roads or cross the gap, local government officials called on a local bridge builder by the name of Joseph A. Dice to remedy their problem. With a mission at hand, Mr. Dice set out on a veritable crusade to reunite the communities of central Missouri with a series of suspension bridges. There is no way that Mr. Dice could know it at the time, but in the future his bridges would become critical byways to the citizens and tourists living near or venturing to the Lake of the Ozarks State Park. While 80-some years have past since Mr. Dice created his bridges, they are still well traveled, maintained and visited - historic swinging bridges, floating in the tree tops and over rivers in the wooded Missouri hills.
On Wednesday, Sabrina and I jumped in the car and made our way for Swinging Bridges Road, unaware of what we may find. As it was the daytime, the ride was breezy and pleasant, and the small houses we passed were quaint and bucolic. Were we traveling down the road at night, however, our experience may have been different, as the road meanders and curves unexpectedly then brings you face to face with very old bridges which may be traversable by car, but sure make a lot of scary noises when crossed.
As we approached the first of the two bridges built by Joseph Dice on Swinging Bridges Road - Mill Creek Bridge - Sabrina and I opted to pull over into a cutout on the side of the road and take the bridge by foot. We walked to the meandering Mill Creek below and took some shots of the small, 135' span bridge, watching with trepidation when an F350 towing a john boat slowly crossed the steel decking. The noise made Sabrina start and I spent the better part of the crossing attending to my Catahoula, versus taking pictures of the truck and boat, which at one point seemingly filled up the entire span.
(View of the Mill Creek Swinging Bridge, looking East)
After a walk along the creek to assuage Sabrina's nerves, we were ready to take a closer look at the bridge and continue on down the road.
(A noise in the trees makes the cur pause and contemplate a chase through the woods)
(While the original cables exist, for historic preservation only, reinforced steel suspension ties and a new decking have been added to make the bridge structurally sound for crossing)
(Across Mill Creek, looking North from the old and new footers)
As we made our way down the road, I wasn't really sure what to expect. I had friends who had traveled the road once before - in the dark of night - and the bridge which they told me about could not be the tiny rambler I had just crossed, could it? As I came to a fork in the road which told me Swinging Bridges abruptly turned to the West, I soon realized THIS was the bridge of which I had heard stories - the 500 foot, Grand Auglaize Swinging Bridge.
(View of the Grand Auglaize Swinging Bridge, looking Wast from the towers)
(The sub-structure of the 414' span, looking West across the Grand Auglaize Creek)
(The view from above. My friend who had crossed the bridge in the dark of night had once told me, as they were crossing the bridge she looked at her husband and said: "[Honey], I think were in the tree-tops...". She was correct!)
(The decking was replaced in December 2011. However, the steel trusses and suspension cables are all original; a testament to Mr. Dice, who used to test the tension of the wire by "feel" alone and never used a blueprint in his 45 year career! When the state of Missouri made it a requirement to start providing blueprints for bridges in the 1940's, Joseph A. Dice retired.)
(Sabrina, playing it safe)
Our Wednesday journey to see the "swinging bridges" of Miller County was well worth the trip. To see such a well-preserved piece of architecture functioning much in the same way it did over 80 years ago is quite a marvel. More remarkable is that Mr. Dice and his crew of eleven built the two bridges in the span of four months using only a stump puller and a team of mules to place the large towers, everything else was pure "mean strength." With that in mind, all I can say is - they just don't make 'em like they used to!
References:
Missouri Historical Timeline
Eads Bridge
St. Louis
Lake of the Ozarks
Bagnell Dam
History of Swinging Bridges and Joseph Dice
Grand Auglaize Specs
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