The Grand Auglaize Bridge is rurally located in Miller County, Missouri near the town of Brumley on State Highway 42, 2.8 miles southwest. The bridge, which is accessible via Swinging Bridges Road (Co. Rd. 42-18), spans the Grand Auglaize Creek, a tributary of Lake of the Ozarks.
Grand Auglaize Bridge, a historic cable-suspension bridge, is a fine example of a vernacular bridge of the early 1900s. It was built under the supervision of Joseph A. Dice, a self-taught engineer, who was reputed to have constructed approximately 40 bridges during a significant period of 1895-1940 in the central Missouri region. Missouri counties that housed the Dice bridges included: Benton, Cooper, Henry, Miller, Maries and St. Clair.
Mr. Dice designed bridges to span substantial streams, creeks and rivers, as well as produced small bridges for farmers on private property. Inherently lacking some technical sophistication, the Dice suspension bridges in central Missouri were built from experience and for the needs of local people.
The common consensus of the local inhabitants regarding the Grand Auglaize Bridge’s construction date is ca. 1930-1931. According to the locals, when Bagnell Dam was built it impounded the Osage River, which in turn also confined the Grand Auglaize Creek which flowed into the river, causing the waterway to backup and flood the vicinity. The need for a bridge became a priority when the residents were no longer able to safely cross the creek by automobile, on what was once the old Linn Creek-Brumley Road.
Hence, Joseph Dice was contracted by Union Electric Light & Power (St. Louis, Missouri) under the authority of Louis H. Egan, president of the utility company, to erect a bridge over the Grand Auglaize waterway. According to H. Dwight Weaver, the bridge was budgeted for $17,200, but Mr. Dice was able to construct the Grand Auglaize Bridge for $11,500. [1]
Joseph A. Dice was a skillfully pragmatic man with a mathematical eye and a calculating brain. His method of calculating a bridge’s dimensions was noticeably different from other builders of his day and consisted of using a ball of twine to get his mathematical equations precise. As Peggy Smith Hake noted, “We are told Mr. Dice could tell by the ‘feel’ of the wire if the tension was right.” [2] He built a regional reputation as a builder of suspension bridges, as Robert Hayden acclaimed, an “almost legendary reputation”. [3]
According to the website based on the book by Leland and Crystal Payton, Damming the Osage, an article was published entitled, “Flooding on the Osage, July 2015”, which stated, “Frightened cattle or overloaded trucks broke the deck of some and tornadoes wrecked others, but no Dice bridge ever structurally failed.” [4]
With the Grand Auglaize Bridge being a tourist attraction for Lake of the Ozarks, the “Historical Brumley Swinging Bridge” has aesthetic and nostalgic value as well. Many visitors go out of their way to see this unusual historic bridge, which is situated near a primitive campground located in the eastern portion of Lake of the Ozarks State Park.
The Grand Auglaize Bridge is a wonderful testament of a historic swinging bridge which retains its vernacular character, the charm of its original construction and a true manifestation of the creative engineering skills of Joseph A. Dice.
[1] H. Dwight Weaver. History & Geography of Lake of the Ozarks, Vol. 1, (Mount Pleasant, South Carolina: Arcadia Publishing, 2000), p. 77
[2] Peggy Smith Hake, “Joseph Dice, Bridge Builder (1866-1947)” An article in “Bridges of Miller County”, Miller County Historical Society Research Library. www.millercountymuseum.org/archives/111031.html
[3] Robert Hayden, “Joseph A. Dice, Bridge Builder. A historical study of a self-made bridge engineer, his work, and his region from 1890 through the present,” a project conducted by Historical Surveys, Inc., Garrison N.D. for the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, pp. I and 27 [4] Leland and Crystal Payton. “Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir”, p. 74. https://www.dammingtheosage.com/flooding-on-the-osage-july-2015/
[4] Leland and Crystal Payton. “Damming the Osage: The Conflicted Story of Lake of the Ozarks and Truman Reservoir”, p. 74. https://www.dammingtheosage.com/flooding-on-the-osage-july-2015/