Klenklen Bridge, Spanning Lamine River at County Road 223, Pleasant Green, Cooper County, MO

Significance: Bridge builder J.A. Dice [1866-1947] built over thirty wire suspension bridges between 1895 and 1940 in central Missouri. Ten of these remain in place today with varying degrees of physical integrity. As a group, these spans comprise the state's most important examples of vernacular bridge construction, designed and built without benefit of detailed structural analysis. Dice built his suspension spans empirically using easily obtained materials and hand labor, and, as a result, they cost substantially less than comparable steel truss spans. They were strikingly lightweight, however, and have fared poorly in subsequent years. Before its recent structural failure, the Klenklen Bridge was distinguished as one of the best-preserved of the remaining Dice-built bridges. It is still an excellent example of an esoteric structural type - among Missouri's most technologically noteworthy spans from the inter-war period.
Survey number: HAER MO-91
Building/structure dates: 1929-1930 Initial Construction