Many times in life we wake up in the morning with something on our minds and for whatever reason that thought just does not go away. On this particular morning that was me, and the thought was of all things the Bull Slough bridge in Conecuh County.
Now I had never been to that bridge that I remembered any way. I had heard of it however for years, and I had seen numerous pictures of it. I know that many people talked about putting canoes and kayaks in there and it is popular with many people for that reason.
I had recently visited another bridge upstream from this one a while back called Cohassett bridge that has been long ago abandoned. Unfortunately, on that visit it was a rainy day and I was not able to send a drone up and get any photos with it and only a few pictures with my camera and they were not great.
On this morning after having my coffee I announced to my wife my intentions for the day and she said she would as she many times does ride with me.
We had actually been to Brooklyn a couple of months back on one of our rambling sessions but that day I did not have the Sepulga River on my mind. Today however that was pretty much all that was on my mind.
I then messaged a friend of mine that I knew kayaked that river and told him I was going. His immediate response was that low water level and blue skies should be a great day for a visit. He also recommended that I also visit the landing at Bottle Creek landing as well which is down river from it.
With that encouragement we loaded the location in the GPS and pulled out heading that way. We went across US 84 to Repton and south on Al 41 to Conecuh County Road 6 and headed on across US 31 at Castleberry and then on down that way to Brooklyn. At Brooklyn we turned left on Co. Rd 43 and then right on Co. Rd. 43 and proceeded up to Bull Slough Road. Bull Slough Road is a narrow winding paved road that brings one to this magnificent old bridge that crosses the Sepulga River.
We met one log truck on the way in and there were several loaded log trailers sitting out to the side close to the bridge. While we were there several vehicles crossed. It has a 3 ton weight limit on it so no log trucks are able to cross.
According to Bridge finder.com and other sources Bull Slough bridge was built in 1924 and rehabilitated in 1970. Bridge Finder calls it a Warren Through Truss design. Other sources call it a Pony Truss design. Regardless of the true name of the design it is an interesting truss bridge. For all I know that might be two different names for the same design.
All sources I found said that it was 252 feet long and the longest span was 152.9 ft. All sources I found said it is 14 ft. Wide. It is definitely a one lane bridge for sure.
We drove down the side road to the landing and observed the bridge from the river level and then went back up and parked at the west end and started photographing it and then sent the drone up and got some awesome shots of this beautiful old bridge.
As always I am fascinated with anything that is historical and for me anyway this old bridge did not disappoint. It is 98 years old. That is for me anyway incredible. Yes, it looks primitive. Yes, it is in the middle of nowhere. I stood however and pictured in my mind to start off with probably few cars were in that part of the world in that era in time. Probably for years there were many more horses and mules either ridden across or pulling carts, wagons, or buggies than there were cars. Then as years passed the numbers of cars and trucks would have started to increase and the numbers of horses and mules and wagons would have decreased. I pondered on when the wagons and mules and horses had trickled to a stop to only be used by motor driven vehicles.
So many questions, so many things to just ponder on. Then I wondered how long had it been since a horse or mule drawn vehicle had crossed. That led to wondering how many cars crossed it a day period now. Obviously, it is a well-traveled road even though it is narrow and winding and relatively rough. I know during the time we were visiting and looking there were several that crossed today.
I can only imagine that when this bridge was built it was a wonder to behold and a spectacle that folks came for miles to see. It would have opened up a lot of opportunities to cross into Brooklyn for those who lived across the river. Although times were hard in the 1920’s it would have presented opportunity for folks to travel to and fro and made live easier for many.
This section of the Sepulga is a beautiful wild little river that would definitely be a place that would be interesting to many people. I highly recommend a visit to the river if you like to canoe or kayak. If you are a history nut like me I highly recommend you visit the bridge and get a look and possibly a few photos of history.
It was a beautiful laid-back day in Eastern Conecuh County, Alabama. We are a blessed people to be able to enjoy the beauty of this great land.
