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June 08, 2005
65 Bridge
I was delighted to find this photo of one of my old hangouts. I spent many hours at the swimming hole just down river from the bridge. Back in the spring of 1981 (I think), there was a huge flood in the county. We drove up to look at the bridge, the far end of which was about 3 feet underwater. I walked out on the near end of the bridge a few feet and noticed it was vibrating like a plucked guitar string. I put my hand on the concrete railing, and could feel repeated hard thumps as entire trees struck the bridge as they went under. I got the hell back to solid ground, let me tell you.
Then I watched in horror as someone did what has to be the absolutely most stupid thing I've ever seen. A trucker decided his load couldn't wait, so he forded the flooded end and slowly drove across the bridge. I expected any second to see the bridge collapse under the added weight & motion, but the fool made it across.
The flood washed away most all the new buildings and environmentally correct outhouses the Park Service had just spent $1+ million building upstream at Tyler Bend too. We all thought that was pretty funny. There was a reason no one had ever built on those old hayfields....they were in the floodplain. Duh.
In the late 1980's, a chicken truck wrecked about halfway across the old bridge. It didn't go completely off, but it dumped most of its load of live chickens in the river. Heh. There were some mighty fat catfish caught that summer. The local authorities kept it quiet because the area's so dependent on the tourist trade, but that was one year most of us locals stayed out of the river. Except for fishing, of course.
Now it's been replaced by a modern bridge upstream a ways. Much safer, but it's just not the same.
But then things never are.
Posted by Rita at June 8, 2005 01:10 PM