The limestone balusters, or spindles, of the now-destroyed old Missouri Highway 96 bridge near Carthage, Missouri, probably will be sold after the city instructed road crews to salvage them.
Meanwhile, the new Missouri 96 bridge northeast of town is slated to open this week. That would lessen the confusion of Route 66 travelers using Missouri 96, which served as the Mother Road for decades.
The Joplin Globe reported:
Before the Missouri Department of Transportation began to replace the 1934 bridge, city officials asked that the balusters — decorative columns that support the bridge railings — be preserved. Though some of the balusters had begun to crumble, they are made of limestone, making them more valuable than concrete decorations. What’s more, they were shaped by hand, not in a mold. […]
On Tuesday, the council donated the 125 recovered limestone pieces to Vision Carthage, a nonprofit set up to implement the recommendations of a 2011 study of the city. Mark Elliff, president of the Carthage Chamber of Commerce and a member of the board of Vision Carthage, said that the organization has not yet decided what to do with the balusters. He said they will likely be sold. The council stipulated that the proceeds be used for a city improvement project.
Here is a video of road crews removing the balusters from the bridge in February:
An accident on the bridge in 2002 gave the city the idea the balusters might have value. A bus drove off the bridge and wrecked about 60 feet of guard rails. Several residents scooped up the balusters lying on the roadway during the crash cleanup.
The Joplin Globe talked to Ed Hardesty, owner of Mother Road Coffee in Carthage, who said Route 66 buffs likely would “go crazy” at the chance of buying a historic artifact from the bridge.
The 1934 bridge unexpectedly closed in early September 2016 after an inspection showed serious deterioration. The state didn’t expect to close it until the following spring.
(Screen-capture image from Carthage Press video of road crews removing limestone balusters from the old Missouri 96 bridge in Carthage, Missouri)