Parkin rural residents left without water after bridge collapse

About 100 Earle, Tyronza residents under boil order due to damage

By Ralph Hardin

news@theeveningtimes.com

It appears the West Memphis is not the only area suffering from bridge outages after the Arkansas Department of Transportation (ARDOT) has confirmed that a bridge has collapsed in Northeast Arkansas on June 28.

The Highway 42 Bridge over the St. Francis River in Coldwater had been closed since November 2, 2023, due to structural concerns.

ARDOT engineers are currently in the area to evaluate the collapse, though it is too early to determine the contributing factor.

The 56-year-old wooden bridge had weaknesses identified in the columns supporting it, leading to its closure to the public.

Fortunately, no injuries were reported as a result of the collapse. Repairs for the bridge were scheduled to begin this summer, and ARDOT had been working with a consultant to determine how to proceed with the repairs.

For those impacted by the closure, ARDOT has provided detour options: Traffic traveling east on Hwy. 42 from Birdeye is advised to detour south on Hwy. 75, then east on Hwy. 64 to the intersection of Hwy. 149. From there, traffic will be detoured north on Hwy. 149 to the intersection of Hwy. 42.

Alternatively, traffic traveling west on Hwy. 42 will be detoured south on Hwy. 149 to the intersection of Hwy. 64 in Earle, then west on Hwy. 64 to the intersection of Hwy. 75. Finally, traffic will be detoured north on Hwy. 75 to the intersection of Hwy. 42.

More pressing is the damage caused to the water lines taken out by the collapsing bridge. Customers of the Parkin Rural Water Association, which include residents in parts of Earle and Tyronza lost water access when the main pipe, which was connected to the bridge and had been installed back in the

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1980s, was broken. Amie Chisem with the Parkin Rural Water Association said about 100 customers were affected by the damaged pipe.

A crew was able to make what Chisem called a “temporary fix” via a makeshift pipe, using a smaller pipe and laying it on the river bed, but due to the ramshackle nature of the stand-in network, a boil order is in effect for those customers.

In the meantime, the Parkin Rural Water Association is looking for help in funding the permanent repair work for the pipeline and donated water is being accepted.