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War Eagle Bridge Repairs Postponed

Heavy rain in Benton County led road department officials to delay the repairs scheduled for this week. A vehicle struck a girder of the War Eagle bridge this y...

Heavy rain in Benton County led road department officials to delay the repairs scheduled for this week.

A vehicle struck a girder of the War Eagle bridge this year, leaving it with obvious damage.

The bridge was scheduled to be closed to fix the damage from 7 a.m. to 5 p.m., Oct. 30-Nov. 1. It was pushed to Nov. 4-5.

The bridge is on Benton County Road 98 and drivers may have to add about 20 min. on to their drive during the closure.

"We try to soften the impact as much as possible to give everybody as much as notice and then try to make a route around that really doesn't slow them down too much," Jeff Clark, Benton County bridge and road director, said.

Millions of dollars have been spent in the last decade in the upkeep of the 105-year-old bridge, according to Clark.The road department uses the same building materials that were originally used.

The one-lane bridge is the second oldest in the county and is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Lee Guthrie works at the War Eagle Mill next to the bridge.

"I'm glad they're repairing it, I mean what if they let it go to disrepair?" she said. "It's a very historical bridge, it brings in a lot of people and visitors."

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