Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge, Cantilever bridge in Lake Village, United States
The Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge was a two-lane steel cantilevered truss bridge carrying US 82/278 across the Mississippi River between Lake Village, Arkansas, and Greenville, Mississippi. Its roadway was 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, with two 12-foot lanes and no shoulders. The main span measured 840 feet (260 m), the longest highway span on the Mississippi River when it opened in 1940.
The Works Progress Administration funded construction during the Great Depression, and it opened in 1940 as the first bridge connecting these two communities. This project replaced earlier, less reliable crossing methods and transformed regional connectivity.
The bridge was named after Benjamin G. Humphreys II, a U.S. Congressman from Mississippi's Greenville district. It served as a symbol of connection between two communities separated by the river for decades.
The bridge was demolished between 2011 and September 2012, cut into sections for recycling, and the river was sometimes closed to traffic during the work. Two workers died during the demolition. Nothing of the crossing remains to walk or drive across; the replacement Greenville Bridge stands 0.5 miles (0.80 km) downriver.
The 840-foot main span made it the longest highway span on the Mississippi from 1940 until 1943. Its roadway was only 24 feet wide, two 12-foot lanes with no shoulders, so a single large combine could shut the crossing. In 1972 it had been struck by barges more often than any other bridge on the river.
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