Grand Glaize Bridge
The Grand Glaize Bridge is the name of two girder bridges on U.S. Route 54 over the Grand Glaize Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks between Osage Beach, Missouri and Laguna Beach, Missouri in Camden County, Missouri.
Grand Glaize Bridge | |
|---|---|
| Coordinates | 38°08′02″N 92°38′33″W |
| Carries |  |
| Crosses | Grand Glaize Arm; Lake of the Ozarks |
| Locale | Camden County, Missouri |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Deck truss bridge |
| History | |
| Construction start | March 1930 |
| Opened | January 1931 |
| Closed | 1995 Replaced by two girder bridges. |
| |
The bridge on official maps is called the "Grandglaize" (one word) as is the body of water it crosses to differentiate it from an entirely different Grand Glaize Creek that is a tributary to the Meramec River in St. Louis County, Missouri. However, in widespread usage, it is referred to as so in two words.
The original two-lane Grand Glaize Bridge was built in 1931 during the construction of Bagnell Dam and the Lake of the Ozarks. It was a Warren truss or deck truss structure with the trusses built under the deck so traffic could see the lake. Its unusual design prompted it to be called the "upside down bridge". Other bridges built across the lake at the time including the Hurricane Deck Bridge over the Osage Arm and the Niangua Bridge over the Niangua Arm were also deck truss structures. The only non-deck truss bridge on the lake was the Niangua Arm US 54 Bridge. The bridge was known for its very narrow lanes and no shoulder.
The new parallel girder bridge carrying westbound traffic was completed in 1984. A new eastbound girder bridge was built in 1995 and the original bridge was torn down. The Niangua Bridge has also been torn down leaving the Hurricane Deck Bridge as the only remaining deck truss bridge until 2013 when it too was demolished.