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Rock Island Bridge

The Rock Island Bridge is an attractive through-truss vertical-lift railroad bridge over the Arkansas River near the Clinton Presidential Library. It was built 1899 by the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad but transferred five years later when the Choctaw was acquired by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad. It remained in service until 1980 when the Rock Island was liquidated in bankruptcy and the bridge was acquired by the Union Pacific.

The bridge originally consisted of four 14-panel Pennsylvania through truss spans, for a total length of 1,614 feet. One fixed span was replaced with a 12-panel, polygonal Warren through truss vertical lift span in 1972.

Ownership of the bridge was transferred to the city in 2001. The bridge was converted to pedestrian use and reopened on 1 October 2011.

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