Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge 2.2

The Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge was a two-lane cantilevered truss bridge carrying U.S. Route 82/U.S. Route 278 across the Mississippi River between Lake Village, Arkansas and Greenville, Mississippi. It was the first bridge to connect the two towns. The bridge was named for Benjamin G. Humphreys II, a former United States Congressman from Greenville.Hailed as progressive when it opened in 1940, it became functionally obsolete as vehicle and river traffic increased. Because of its narrow two lanes with no shoulders, the bridge often became blocked by accidents or by the crossing of large vehicles like farm equipment. Due to its location near a sharp bend in the Mississippi River, the bridge became a hazard to river traffic; barges and towboats frequently collided with it. In 1994, a study concluded that a new bridge was needed and the old one should be torn down.A new bridge, the Greenville Bridge, was built as a replacement further downriver from the sharp bend. It opened in 2010. In 2011, work began to remove the Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge.DescriptionThe Benjamin G. Humphreys Bridge, very modern in its time, was a two lane, steel cantilevered truss bridge that carried US 82/278 over the Mississippi River, and connected the towns of Lake Village, Arkansas and Greenville, Mississippi by road for the first time. Prior to the bridge, local vehicles and local freight could only cross the river by ferry. It was named after Benjamin G. Humphreys, a US Congressman from Greensville who co-authored a flood control bill in 1917 establishing a national flood control program on the Mississippi, and promoted the concept of flood control to contain the river.