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.
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.
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.
Additional details are available from the Missouri DOT Historic Bridge Inventory
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