- City:
- Clarksdale, MS
- Site Type:
- Roads, Bridges, and Tunnels, Infrastructure and Utilities
- New Deal Agencies:
- Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works, Public Works Funding, Public Works Administration (PWA)
- Started:
- 1936
- Completed:
- 1936
- Designer:
- Walter Bobo and Ben T. Collier
- Contractor:
- Pigford Brothers
- Quality of Information:
- Very Good
- Site Survival:
- No Longer Extant
Description
The Second Street bridge over the Sunflower River was constructed in 1936 as Public Works Administration project W1051. Pigford Brothers of Meridian, Mississippi constructed the bridge. The bridge was a modern concrete bridge, 500 feet long, 30 feet wide, and with a 5-foot sidewalks on each side of the roadway. It had “more architectural detailing” (Sunflower Bridge to be completed August 15, p. 1) than the Tenth Street Bridge, also constructed by Pigford a few years earlier. Twelve 500-candlepower electric lamps lighted the bridge. The project employed 50 local men. Clarksdale City Engineer Walter Bobo and Coahoma County Engineer Ben T. Collier were the construction engineers. The city and county each contributed $22,000 and a grant of $34,552 was awarded. Approved November 14, 1935, the construction began on January 20, 1936 and was completed on September 16, 1936 for a total cost of $78,127. The bridge was opened to traffic at 6 p.m. on September 5, 1936. The new concrete bridge replaced an earlier steel structure, but was itself replaced in 1986.
Source notes
Status of Completed Non-Federal Allotted Projects, Report No. 5, Region No. 3, Mississippi. January 3, 1940, p. 104. Federal Emergency Administration of Public Works Projects Division.
"Second Street Bridge Paving Finished Soon." (July 7, 1936). Clarksdale Press Register, p. 1.
"Sunflower Bridge to be Completed August 15." (June 5, 1936). Clarksdale Press Register, p. 1, 2.
"Traffic will go over Sunflower's new bridge tonight; Structure's completion announced by Pigfords." (September 5, 1936). Clarksdale Press Register, p. 1, 2.
Wright, L. P. with additional text by Jennifer Baughn and William M. Gatlin. (May 13, 2009). "Clarksdale Historic District" nomination form for National Register of Historic Places. United States Department of the Interior. National Park Service.
Site originally submitted by Susan Allen on November 8, 2017.
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