Caddo Lake Drawbridge

The Historic Caddo Lake Drawbridge at Mooringsport, Louisiana is a lift bridge built in 1914 to replace the ferry by the Midland Bridge Company of Kansas City, Missouri under authority of the Caddo Parish Police Jury. This vehicular bridge illustrates the unique "Vertical-Lift" design of John Alexander Low Waddell of the illustrious firm of Waddell & Harrington Bridges. 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...