Second Historic Bridge Installed At Van de Graaff Park

NORTHPORT, AL. — Van de Graaff Arboretum and Historic Bridge Park will soon debut yet another offering in line with its name following the installation of a former railroad car bridge previously spanning a section of North River in Fayette County.

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County Engineer Scott Anders told Patch the bridge was installed in 1981 on Jenkins Cemetery Road in Fayette County and was taken out of service in 2018. He also said in his contact with officials in Fayette County, he was able to learn some of the bridge's history for himself, including one unconfirmed tale of a Bible salesman driving off the bridge to his death some years ago.

"The history is certainly interesting," Anders said, explaining that the bridge itself was used for vehicle traffic but was made out of a railroad car. "This has been in the works for about the last two years."

With in-kind assistance from McAbee Construction, Tuscaloosa County and its partners at the Tuscaloosa County Park and Recreation Authority (PARA) set the bridge structure Thursday, making it the second historic bridge in park, the goal of which will be to increase accessibility to rustic camping areas and other offerings in the largest section of the 141-acre park.

PARA took over the park in 2014, leasing it from Friends of Historic Northport for an annual fee of $1 so long as the agency develops and maintains the land for recreational and educational use.

Mike Henderson, an engineering coordinator with Tuscaloosa County, told Patch that Fayette County had replaced the bridge with a federal aid project for a new bridge and donated the structure to PARA.

"We took it to McAbee’s yard and Mr. McAbee sandblasted it, painted it, got it cleaned up and he provided the services of getting it set across the creek," he said.

The county previously shopped around for other potential historic bridges, looking at one in Blount County and even considering pre-fabricated bridges, Henderson said. But when the Fayette bridge came into the picture, it fit the need for a 60-foot span length, coming in at around 70 feet.

"So they were able to get something across the creek that will help them get vehicles, maintenance equipment, maybe campers across the creek and it opens up the back side of the park," he said.

PARA spokeswoman Becky Booker said that in the past, visitors would have to walk over stones in the creek to access the larger side of the park. She then said a new floor would be added over the current bridge structure and handrails will be installed to allow for pedestrian foot traffic.

"It’s been sitting on the McAbee's property for two years just waiting," she said. "They will re-floor the wooden part and put in side rails, so it's not quite ready for use yet."

The new bridge will compliment the park's first historic structure, a single span of the 1882 King Bowstring Bridge, which was one of four that crossed the Black Warrior River from 1882 – 1896.

The park is open daily to visitors and is located at 3231 Robert Cardinal Road in Northport.

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