Missouri Highway Department Donates Salvaged Balusters from Route 66 Bridge

Highway 66 bridge at eastern entrance to Carthage (now Missouri 96) as it appeared in 1997.

Built in 1934 of Carthage limestone, the Route 66 bridge spanned the St. Louis/San Francisco Railroad and Missouri Pacific Railroad tracks east of Carthage. The limestone balusters were formed by hand on a lathe by an unknown artist. The light fixtures along the bridge were furnished and placed by the City of Carthage. Bridge footings were placed on solid, undisturbed rock. If soft rock or shale was encountered, the footings were driven 18 inches into the soft rock for support. Length of project was .401 mile. Today the bridge serves Route 96 near Kellogg Lake. The portion damaged by the bus crash has been cemented over due to Missouri government budget constraints.

In 2008–09, a few of these limestone balusters will be displayed in the museum's lobby as part of its informal Route 66 display along with construction sketches of the bridge.

Powers Museum Board President, George Boyd Jr., accepts group of Carthage stone balusters from Richard Walter, MODOT District Engineer. These were salvaged after the bridge was damaged in 2002 when a bus crashed into and over the structure.

Copyright © 2009 Powers Museum
1617 West Oak • P.O. Box 593 • Carthage, MO 64836
e-mail:infonow@powersmuseum.com  |  phone: 417-237-0456
All Web site design, content and solutions are property of Powers Museum