Cotter Bridge
The Cotter Bridge, also known as the R. M. Ruthven Bridge and the White River Concrete Arch Bridge, carries U.S. Route 62 Business across the White River west of the city of Cotter in Baxter County, Arkansas. Upon completion, the bridge opened a part of the Ozarks previously inaccessible to motorists. Constructed in 1930, it is the only bridge built by the Marsh Engineering Company of Des Moines, Iowa, in the state of Arkansas. Getting a bridge in Cotter Cotter was established in 1905 as a railroad town. The area used a ferry system to cross the vast White River, with the nearest road crossing being north in Branson, Missouri. The river would rise and fall very quickly, which caused the ferry to be very unreliable. Baxter County residents wanted a bridge, but were opposed to the use of toll to pay for it. Once it became apparent that the federal road U.S. Route 62 would replace Arkansas Highway 12 through the area, bridge interest reached a peak. The federal road would bring an economic boom to the tourist-themed Ozarks that had not been developed, but the funding was still not available due to Arkansas' lack of a central road