Riverside Bridge Reopens

Riverside Bridge Ozark, MO.

Historic Riverside Bridge over the Finley River was closed three years ago after engineers deemed the structure unsafe. Many people in Ozark and the surrounding area couldn't bear the thought of the old bridge being torn down, so money was raised by citizens and tax payers in Christian County to do the $250,000 in repairs. 

The bridge was re-opened to traffic on Friday August 23rd. Mark and I hopped into our Subaru and went to see it for ourselves. We had never gone very far up Riverside Road before - only to get to the park on the other side of the river. It is a pretty drive and the bridge really is worth seeing.

Crossing the bridge

 It's nice to know that enough people in the community cared to work towards the preservation of this historic site. Unfortunately, it is only a temporary fix. After seven years the bridge will need to be replaced by a new one. The tricky part is that much of the area surrounding the bridge is a federally owned flood plain. Short of rerouting the existing roads and buying up personal property, the current location seems to be the most logical place to put a new bridge...which of course would mean tearing the old one down. Something preservationists and long time citizens of Oz would hate to see done.

Only time will tell the fate of the Historic Riverside Bridge, but for now why not come enjoy a piece of history, and the surrounding beauty which is The Ozarks. 

~ Love & Light ~