Riverdale Bridge located in Christian County, Missouri.

This sign is the company who built the bridge. It is no longer posted due to the bridge soon to be torn down. The sign reads: 1908, The Canton Bridge Company Builders. Canton OH.

From many interviews, Western District Commissioner, Bill Barnett, states he has done so many different interviews on the Riverdale Bridge. Yet, I feel my interview with Barnett; will give readers more of an update on the history and the progress of the steel bridge, as well as, information that no one else may have provided.

As you read, in this article, you’ll read how, Bill Barnett, personally feels towards the idea of the Riverdale bridge being torn down and a new one being built, how Barnett stresses for the safety of the Christian County residents, including visitors from other towns and states, the understanding of residents feelings and emotions, and the convenience of the new bridge for school buses, emergency vehicles, and residents, as well as, future generations yet to come!

Back in 1908, Canton Bridge Company from Canton, OH built the Riverdale Bridge originally where it stands in the same place today.

Not knowing what the original cost was to build the bridge in 1908, today the estimate cost to build the new bridge that is planed will be approximately around, $450,000. You may ask, "Where is this money coming from?" According to Barnett, the money comes from the Federal and State, called, Bridge Replacement Offsite, (BRO). "We had to prove the bridge is in bad shape. They (BRO) pays 80% of the cost and the County pays, 20%," said Barnett. "You have to put the new bridge back in the same place in order to get funded."

The decision came from the county commissioners. They are the ones who take care of the bridge and the roads. And some residents have even agreed with the decision.

Great River Engineering Company is the ones making up the blueprints for the new ridge, and the County has been working with the state and getting the approvals and everything. Hector Jones, from Springfield, MO, is the lead man of the company.

Barnett also mentioned to me that the county couldn’t afford to go and build the bridge on their own because they don’t have that type of funds.

He also stated that the County has been working on trying to get the new bridge in for over a year and a half or so now. Although, the first decision had originated 18-years-ago, but they couldn’t get the landowners to get together and cooperate, so, they just cooled off about it. Yet, today, Barnett mentioned, "Our problem is we are still negotiating with the landowner on the West. The landowners on the East have already signed the papers and gave the okay to get on their property." No specific date has been set yet because of the negotiating process that is still being worked out with the landowner on the West side.

Bill says, "It will take approximately, close to year or less to build the new bridge from start to finish and the road will be blocked off and people will have to go around while construction is being done."

Plans where to have the old bridge started and done before winter. But Barnett tells me that he is not sure when they’re going to get started because of the landowner on the West, they are still negotiating with and that they are at a stand still right now.

"Once the papers are signed by the landowners on the East side, they can’t go back and change their minds," Barnett adds. "We need more East and West roads because we don’t have too many. Fire trucks have to drive all the way around and school buses have to drive on Hwy 65 just to pick up the kids on the other side. By having the new bridge, it will be more convenient and accessible for school buses, fire trucks, and everyone else. It’s a crossroad between 160 and 65. It’s just a bad situation to have to take a bridge down like that because it’s been around for so many years and its part of Christian County, part of all of us. But sometimes things just have to happen to progress things. We‘re growing so fast, we need more East and westbound roads, so its kind of a bad situation. That‘s kind of were we are standing today."

A lot of people may not want the bridge gone because of its historical value and being a historical part of the county, but when a bridge is unsafe to cross anymore and chance of lives being taken because of the old bridge giving out one day, I personally think that it would be a good idea to replace it with another bridge that is safe for the residents. You have to think about other people’s safety because the old steel bridge’s wood is getting rotten worse and you don’t want anybody to get hurt there. Hate to see the bridge come down because there’s a lot of memories and you’d hate to destroy those memories, but its just part of the progress you might say because we’re growing so fast, we are going to have to go with the flow and go with the time.

"I said this before in other articles, when I was a kid, we’d go down there and jump off of the trees there with a rope on it, play in the water, and there’s just not many places like that left. But now, you can’t go down there and go swimming because all the landowners have got that posted that your not allowed to go on their property," said Barnett. "Personally I hate it because like I said, that bridge is apart of us, part of Christian County people, and its got a lot of memories and things there that you’d hate to see something like that be tore down, but you’ve go to think of what’s best for those people that travel the road and for the emergencies and things you’ve got to think about those things so you’ve go to kind of weigh them and then we couldn’t afford to move the bridge and build a new one because we’ve got to pay for it ourselves so its just something you hate to have to do, but we just have to have a new bridge there."

With the dam and bridge, it does make a neat and beautiful place. And I am sure a lot of people will miss it, but for safety reasons, the new bridge is going to have to be put in its place, because as the old saying goes, "Nothing last forever!"

At least the other surroundings will get to stay and Barnett hopes not to change a whole lot being that the new bridge is going right back in the same spot as the old one. The real only difference there will be is that the new bridge is going to be a two lane bridge instead of a one lane bridge and that the old steel bridge will no longer be there anymore.

The last remaining sign has been taken down and will be placed in the Christian County museum including some pictures of the old bridge. There might also be some people that might want some of the old bridge. Depends on who gets the old bridge. "Be nice to see that old bridge put up some place in the County on somebody’s property or something. But its really expensive to tear something like that down," said Barnett.

Bids will be advertised in the papers to bridge companies to tear the bridge down, and which ever bridge company gets the highest bid, gets to tear the Riverdale bridge down.

Since Riverdale bridge is being torn down, people have been taking a lot of pictures of the old bridge before it does become torn down for the future generations yet to come that wont have the chance to see it. But with pictures and the signs being at the Christian County museum, at least they’ll get to see how and what the Riverdale Bridge looked like.

Again, Barnett realizes that people don’t want the old steel bridge to be torn down, but he says, "We could leave it and let people use it as a walk way or something, but if you fill that up with people, the engineers say that would weigh more than what the tonnage is that’s posted on the bridge, (which it is a 4 ton bridge) and filling that up with people is more than what the tonnage allows to go across the bridge. Then you’d have the liability of people falling off. The county would have to maintain it and we just don’t have the funds to do that. We have to try to take things under consideration and what we feel is best for everybody. It’s not going to make everybody happy."

With some people who want to try and save the bridge because of its historical value and memories it holds, there are yet those who want the new bridge as well because of the safety factors and convenience for residents, buses, and emergency vehicles. Barnett admits, "I would like to see it get saved but I’m caught between a rock and a hard place for what best for the people. I have to be the bad guy in away! I have to make the decision rather its right or wrong. I have to weigh things out."

There is another steel bridge on West from the Riverdale bridge called the, Hawkins Bridge. Which also, the county has had the engineers look at that bridge and they can put a concrete floor in that bridge and that will help a lot to where school busses and heavy trucks can drive across it. Eventually the Hawkins Bridge will also be rebuilt but not tore down. But, the progress on the Hawkins Bridge will not be started until the Riverdale Bridge is finished.

"No plans are made to tear down the Hawkins bridge, because it isn’t as far gone as the Riverdale bridge and wont cost as much," explained Barnett. "At least they get to keep one steel bridge around here." Barnett also explained that the Hawkins Bridge has lot of memories to it as well and the people of Christian County, too.