Arkansas judge allows bridge demolition to move forward

Pulaski County, Arkansas, Circuit Judge Chris Piazza dissolved a court order blocking the demolition of a historic bridge in Clarendon, a report by Arkansas Online says. The July 18 ruling will allow federal authorities to tear down the White River Bridge and allow the area to revert to its natural state in the wildlife sanctuaries on the White and Cache Rivers, which are run by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service.

Those who supported the bridge tried to save it through a lawsuit and called the bridge “a symbol of American strength, craftsmanship and freedom of expression” and an “engineering marvel and a core part of Arkansas history that sits near the original road from Memphis or Little Rock and on the route of the historic Trail of Tears.”

The report says residents who opposed the bridge demolition also claimed losing the span would decrease the potential to attract tourism revenue from Monroe County.

July 18 was the deadline Piazza set for bridge supporters to find a way to save it. He blocked the demolition in March.

Tearing down the bridge is the final part of an 18-year process to replace the bridge with a safer structure and to have the original site return to nature, the report says.