Restoration of the Devil's Elbow Bridge

Glad to hear this story. This is along one of my absolute favorite stretches of Route 66 which also include Hooker's Cut.

This was from the May 2nd Waynesville Daily Guide.

Pulaski County Commissioner Bil Farnham has made the retsoration of the Devil's Elbow Bridge a highest profile project and is directing grant writers to get busy with efforts to raise another $400,000. The cost of the whole project is estimated at $1.6 million with $1.1 million already raised.

This is a high cost, but scraping and painting the structure will cost at least $580,000 because the paint contains lead and can not be allowed to fall into the Big Piney River.

The bridge was built in 1923 and carried Route 66 traffic across the river into the small settlement of Devil's Elbow until the four lane bypass was built through Hooker's Cut.

The bridge has gotten into bad repair and even driving a car across it is a little frightening. Tourist busses are no longer allowed to drive over it.

Save that Old Bridge. --RoadDog