Slough Creek Bridge, Spanning Slough Creek at CART Road 330, Arrow Rock, Saline County, MO

Significance: The Slough Creek Bridge is technologically significant as one of the last examples in Missouri of what was once a mainstay structural type: the kingpost truss. Numerous kingposts were built on the state's early roads in the 19th century, executed first as timber or timber/iron structures and later in all-metal configurations. The structural type was limited to short-span applications, however. As steel beam bridges received widespread acceptance after the turn of the 20th century, erection of kingpost trusses declined correspondingly. No early timber kingpost bridges in Missouri are known to remain in place, and only a few all-metal kingposts have endured. The Sough Creek Bridge is distinguished as the earliest of these - a well-preserved illustration of small-scale wrought iron truss construction.
Survey number: HAER MO-75