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Site Features:
Recreational Vehicles: a comprehensive index of the
websites of recreational vehicle manufacturers, mainly in North America,
including current models, where applicable.
Haw Creek Out n'
About: a blog – web log –
intended as a companion to the Haw Creek Outdoors web
site.
Photo Galleries: outdoor and travel related photos
Places: useful and/or interesting information for a
few selected places
Mini-Reviews: short reviews related to camping, mostly
RVs so far, but more coming
Reviews: reviews of campgrounds, websites and more,
linked to the blog post of the review initially
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October 25, 2007
The Washburn Yellowstone Expedition, No.1 by Walter Trumball
(May 1871)
October 24, 2007
The
Yellowstone (December 1871)
The Yellowstone National Park by John Muir (April
1898)
October 23, 2007
The Wonders of the Yellowstone - Second Article
October 20, 2007
class B motorhomes and vans: completely updated
October 19, 2007
Updates:
motorcoaches and class A motorhomes:
completely updated.
New Images:
I've also added a new page called
Site News Archive
where older material from this column will be moved.
The page will serve as a record of changes to the
site.
October 17, 2007 10:32 P.M
October 17, 2007 8:30 A.M.
New Yellowstone National Park material.
article:
Images:
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Site
News Archive |
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Haw Creek
Outdoors > Places
Big Dam Bridge
Photo Gallery at Haw Creek Outdoors
Opened in 2006, the pedestrian and bicycle bridge built over Murray Lock and Dam between
Murray Park in Little Rock
and Cook's Landing Park in North Little Rock is a major addition to the Arkansas River
Trail, connecting several miles of hiking and biking trails on both
sides of the river. The River Trail will eventually be
nearly 25 miles long. Another planned crossing over the river via a
renovated Rock Island Railroad bridge downtown at the Clinton
Library will complete a 14 mile loop. An extension route
to Pinnacle Mountain State Park will connect to the 225 mile
Ouachita Wilderness Trail. The official dedication for the bridge
was September 30, 2006. The project's official name is
Pulaski County Pedestrian & Bicycle Bridge - Murray Lock and Dam—however, it is known as the
Big Dam Bridge and is the world's longest bridge specifically
constructed as a pedestrian/bicycle bridge. At 4,226 feet (1288 m.)
in length, the bridge rises to 65 feet over the surface of the
Arkansas River and 30 feet over the dam. The span over the
river is 3463 feet (1055 m.), with the ramps on either side of the
river accounting for the rest of the length.
It is lit at night with 169 "Illumivision Lightwave LX"
fixtures installed at the base of the 13 piers over the dam.
Each light is a "wall washing LED that generates color-changing
effects."
 Other
dam bridge facts:
- The bridge has 679 feet of walled embankments.
- There are eight observation areas with benches.
- It's designed to support two 36" utility pipelines.
- The structure contains over 3 million pounds of steel.
- The bridge and associated trails assists in the connection of
over 7,000 acres of city, county, state, and federal park land.
- Oversight of design and construction was provided by the U.S.
Army Corps of Engineers to ensure the project would not interfere
with navigation, though no corps funds were used in the
construction.
- Funding was through a combination of federal and state
transportation funds as well as local funding from Pulaski County
and the cities of Little Rock and North Little Rock.
- It was constructed with "weathering steel girders" to minimize
requirements for future maintenance.
- The bridge is gently sloped to comply with Uniform Federal
Accessibility Standards.
- Using Murray Lock and Dam as foundation saved an estimated $10
million in construction costs
Murray Lock and Dam and the McClellan-Kerr Arkansas River
Navigation System (MKARNS) facts:
- Essentially a series of navigation pools connected by locks,
the waterway enables vessels to overcome a 420-foot difference
in elevation from the Mississippi River to the head of
navigation at Catoosa, Oklahoma.
- There are 18 locks; 5 in Oklahoma and 13 in Arkansas. All
lock chambers are 110-feet wide by 600 feet long.
- Size of towage accommodated: more than 8 jumbo (35 ft. X 195
ft.) barges with double lockage using tow haulage (Tow haulage
equipment on a lock can pull the first cut through by itself, so
that the towboat can stay in its original pushing position and
lock through with the second cut.)
- A typical 8-barge 12,000-ton is equivalent to 400
semi-trucks or 120 railroad freight cars.
- The maximum lift from one navigation pool to another ranges
from only 14 feet at lock No. 4 near Pine Bluff to as much as 54
feet at the Dardanelle Lock.
- The locks are operated 24 hours per day and handle both
commercial barges and recreational vessels.
- Bridges over the channel have a minimum vertical clearance
of 52 feet 98% of the time. Actual vertical clearance above the
normal level of the navigation pool is normally more than 52
feet.
- Murray Lock and Dam is #7 going upstream, 125.4 miles from
the Mississippi. Under normal pool conditions, the lower
pool level is 231 ft above sea level and the upper pool is 249
ft., for a nominal change in elevation of 18 feet.
Commentary on the Big Dam Bridge:
There was already a woman from the United Kingdom who came to run
in our first Big Dam Bridge 5K. She said before coming to Arkansas
she had no idea where our state was on the map. This was her
first 5K, and she chose to run it on the longest bridge in the
world. I have a feeling more people, just like our friend
across the pond, will visit Little Rock to say they, too, traveled
across this landmark. —
Governor Mike Huckabee, October 4, 2006
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