Historic Caddo Lake Drawbridge, Mooringsport

The Historic Caddo Lake Drawbridge at Mooringsport, Louisiana, is a vertical-lift bridge that is listed on the U.S. National Register of Historic Places. It was built in 1914, to replace a ferry, by the Midland Bridge Company of Kansas City, Missouri, under authority of the Caddo Parish Police Jury. The lift span has been inoperable since the 1940s.
This vehicular bridge illustrates the "Vertical-Lift" design of John Alexander Low Waddell of the firm of Waddell & Harrington. This design allowed the entire center span to lift in a vertical direction to allow tall oil equipment to pass through, especially Gulf Oil Company's pile driver. This design was invented in 1893 and was successfully introduced in Chicago with the South Halsted Street Bridge. The Caddo Lake Drawbridge is a direct descendant of this structure.
In the summer of 1941, just prior to World War II, the United States Army held maneuvers in and around Mooringsport as a means of preparing the soldiers for war. During the maneuvers, Generals Dwight D. Eisenhower and George S. Patton came to Mooringsport and led the Red and Blue armies in the "capture" of the bridge. They also bombed the bridge with sacks of flour.
In the mid-1940s, ownership of the bridge was transferred away from Caddo Parish to the Louisiana Department of Highways (LA Department of Transportation & Development, abbreviated as DOTD). Shortly after the transfer, the Department of Highways realized that there was no longer a need for the bridge to open. Consequently, the concrete counterweights were removed from the bridge's tower and dropped in the lake.

For travelers who use our international travel planner, Mooringsport holidays become easier to arrange, with trips to the Historic Caddo Lake Drawbridge and other attractions mapped out and timetabled.
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