Bridge Into The Fog

Thick fog still hung over the city, so even though it was starting to get really late I made one more stop at the Clinton Park Bridge by the Arkansas River. It is a great place to visit in foggy weather. The fog mingles with and amplifies the bright LED lights on the bridge. The result is surreal, as the night sky lights up with colors. It looks like the setting of some sort of science fiction movie.







The bridge was built in 1899 for the Choctaw and Memphis Railroad, and was called the Choctaw Bridge when it was built. The Choctaw Station, which was the original rail station, stil stands. It is now used by the University of Arkansas Clinton School of Public Service.





The bridge would be acquired by the Chicago, Rock Island and Pacific Railroad and would be renamed the Rock Island Bridge. In the 1960s, part of the bridge was removed and a lift span was installed in order to allow for barges to pass underneath.





The bridge would next be acquired by Union Pacific in 1983, after Rock Island declared bankruptcy. The bridge was decomissioned, and sat unused. In the 1990s, Union Pacific wanted to demolish the bridge. But amazingly, the bridge was saved after protests by the governments of Pulaski County, Little Rock and North Little Rock.



In 2011, a $10.5 million rennovation was completed and the bridge was converted into a pedestrian span. The bridge now serves as the eastern end of the Arkansas River Trail, which stretches all the way to Pinnacle Mountain.





It was starting to get late (it was getting close to midnight), so I hurried to get a few more pictures. I headed down to the shore and got this view of the bridge reflected in the river.



These were taken on a Saturday night and there were a few groups of drunk people who were singing and laughing while walking on the bridge. I couldn't see them, but the noise they made drifted through the fog.



And one last shot before I drove home, of the bridge dissolving into the thick fog....