North Little Rock mulls replacement of Main Street Viaduct

Span over rail yard deemed in ‘poor’ shape

Pieces of concrete have fallen away from beneath the Main Street Viaduct bridge, exposing rebar to the elements and allowing it to rust. The city of North Little Rock, with help from federal funds, plans to repair the Main Street Viaduct bridge. Under the plan the city would receive between $5 million to $25 million and be required to match the grant by 20%. 

(Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)
Pieces of concrete have fallen away from beneath the Main Street Viaduct bridge, exposing rebar to the elements and allowing it to rust. The city of North Little Rock, with help from federal funds, plans to repair the Main Street Viaduct bridge. Under the plan the city would receive between $5 million to $25 million and be required to match the grant by 20%. (Arkansas Democrat-Gazette/Stephen Swofford)


As roughly 19,000 cars traverse North Little Rock's Main Street Viaduct bridge every day, chunks of concrete fall on the railroad tracks below.

The bridge, located in the heart of North Little Rock, has served as a vital crossing for nearly a century, connecting downtown and midcity -- which are bifurcated by Union Pacific's railroad tracks.

But now the bridge is approaching its expiration date.

The bridge's condition is "poor" and has been likened in a city report to another bridge that collapsed earlier this year. But, for now, city officials said the viaduct bridge is safe.

The Main Street Viaduct bridge spans Eighth to 13th streets in North Little Rock, serving as a key crossing that connects downtown to midcity, home to North Little Rock High School, police headquarters and a newly purchased municipal office building for more than 100 city employees.

The bridge, built in 1927, can't be repaired but rather needs to be replaced, said Chris Wilbourn, the city's top engineer.

"Some people think bridges last forever -- they do not," Wilbourn said. "There is absolutely no danger of this bridge falling down. ... But has met its useful life? Yeah. And does it need to be replaced, is it time for it to be replaced -- absolutely yes."

Mayor Terry Hartwick said the city can't afford to pay for the bridge's replacement on its own. Instead, the city has applied for a federal Rebuilding American Infrastructure with Sustainability and Equity grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation, asking for up to $25 million. In total, the city estimates it will cost up to $35 million to replace the bridge.

Wilbourn and Hartwick said the bridge is safe for now, but the city's grant application said if it is not replaced there is "a high likelihood that at some point the bridge may fail, possibly rather dramatically."

The city's grant application likened the viaduct bridge to the Forbes Avenue Bridge in Pittsburgh, which collapsed in January, injuring 10 people.

"Images from the Forbes Avenue Bridge collapse, which damaged five vehicles and a bus, and injured ten people, leave little to the imagination of what could happen should the Main Street Viaduct collapse," the application states. "Already, chunks of the bridge regularly fall on the Union Pacific railyard."

An Arkansas Department of Transportation inspector, who examined the bridge in 2020 and 2021, rated the bridge's railings, transitions, approach guardrail and approach guardrail ends as not meeting currently acceptable safety standards. The report also classified the bridge's superstructure and substructure as "poor" as well as its overall condition.

During a tour underneath the bridge, Wilbourn explained that eroding concrete has exposed the bridge's steel girders to the elements and has began to rust. Inspection reports from the state transportation department show cracked and broken concrete exposing rusted and bent steel rebar. According to the city's grant application, the bridge is "structurally deficient."

The application also explains another risk -- earthquakes. Since the bridge was built long before modern earthquake standards, the bridge is liable to collapse if Central Arkansas experiences significant seismic activity.

"The bridge is a safety hazard, not just because of its age and disrepair, but also because of its proximity to a major earthquake zone," according to the city's grant application.

The poor condition of North Little Rock's Main Street Viaduct bridge is far from the state's only bridge problem. About 5.1% of the state's 12,946 bridges are in a poor condition, according to the U.S. Department of Transportation.

"We keep constant vigilance on this," Hartwick said. "We do a lot of repair work and we're watching. It's safe or we would have already shut it down."

The city has drafted its congressional delegation, Sens. John Boozman and Tom Cotton and Rep. French Hill, to write letters backing funding for the bridge's replacement. Hartwick said he has given tours underneath the bridge to members of Boozman's and Hill's staffs, hoping to convince them of the urgency to fix the bridge.

But even with the backing of its congressional delegation, obtaining a federal grant to replace the bridge will still be difficult and could take years.

Construction will likely take place in phases, with half of the bridge being torn down and rebuilt, while the other half is open, Wilbourn said.

To replace the viaduct bridge, the city will have to land a competitive grant coveted by local governments around the country to fund construction. The city will also have to negotiate with Union Pacific, which owns the tracks under the bridge.

For Union Pacific, its North Little Rock rail yard is one of the company's largest and serves as a key piece in the nation's complex supply chain. Wilbourn said construction of the bridge would have to be done with minimal impact to Union Pacific's trains, a complicated, but doable task he said.

Wilbourn also said plans for the bridge's replacement will have to undergo a lengthy environmental review and historical preservation analysis process. But the biggest hurdle for the project will be funding.

Hartwick said the city can't fix the viaduct bridge without federal money, even after increasing the sales tax, which has been earmarked for public projects.

"People should not be concerned," Hartwick said. "What we should be concerned about is [getting] the money to fix the bridge in the future."

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