Big Muddy Overlook Traditional Cache
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Difficulty:
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Terrain:
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Size: 
(small)
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The cache site overlooks the scenic Missouri River. Bring your camera and a pen to sign the log. You can park within feet of the cache or park in the public parking lot at the parking coordinates listed below and take a stroll across the bridge while you are here. Terrain rating can be 1-3 depending on where you park.
Note: West First Street is a one-way street UP!
The first Missouri River bridge at Hermann was dedicated on August 29, 1930. Estimates indicate that 3,000 people were on the bridge at the ribbon cutting with approximately 8,000 attending the dedication. The bridge was officially opened with the cutting of the ribbon by 10 year old Miss Florence Mundwiller.
The cantilevered truss bridge was one of the longest in the state. The bridge, with its approach behind City Hall on Market Street, extended in a northwest direction toward the town of McKittrick. It consisted of 10 spans with a total length of approximately 2,238 feet with a deck width of 20 feet. Eighteen hundred tons of steel for the continuous expansion-bridge came from the Kansas City Structural Steel Co.
In 1928, the National Toll Bridge Co. began construction of the bridge at an estimated cost of $800,000. Construction took over two years because of delays due to adverse weather conditions. Serious damage was done in the fall of 1929. Floodwaters washed away three of the six piers already in place. The narrow gauge trestle track that was built to carry building materials to the work site and the derricks were washed away in the flood. The second year of construction was not much better because it was very dry. Delays in building were compounded by difficulties in transporting materials by boat to the bridge site because of low water. Efforts continued and the bridge was finally completed in August of 1930.
The bridge opened as a toll bridge and continued as such for about a year and a half. The toll was $1 round trip per vehicle or 15 cents for a pedestrian. The bridge contributed to the demise of the Hermann Ferry and Packet Co. that attempted to run boats at the rate of 50 cents per vehicle after the bridge was built. The last ferryboat to run was the L’Outre Island in 1932.
Before the bridge: Local residents tell stories about walking or skating across the river when the ice was solid enough. Others remember teams of horses and mules being used to transport goods and people from one side to the other. For many, the only way across the river was by skiff sometimes at night by the light of a lantern.
Groundbreaking for a new plate-girder bridge was held on September 23, 2005 and the Christopher S. Bond Bridge was officially dedicated on October 12, 2007. The bridge was built adjacent to and just west of the old structure at a cost of approximately 37 million dollars. Florence Mundwiller Kelley, who cut the ribbon at the 1930 bridge dedication, also cut the ribbon for the new bridge.
The bridge is 2,247 feet in length. The total width of the bridge is 55 feet, 4 inches, consisting of two 12-foot driving lanes, two 10-foot shoulders, and an 8-foot bicycle/pedestrian lane. The bike lane, which was opened in 2008 after approach construction and demolition of the previous bridge was completed, improved access between Hermann and the nearby Katy Trail State Park.
The Bridge into Hermann (7 ½ minute video history of building both bridges and the implosion of the old bridge): Visit Link
Information obtained from www.hermannhill.com and www.modot.mo.gov websites.
Congratulations to olderscroller-granyg for FTF!
Additional Hints
(Decrypt)
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