This is a group of Greg and Arch's friends from their baseball teams (I presume), along with one friend's parents and apparent older sister. Greg is steering the party barge, Arch is in the striped shirt. My main reason for posting this photo is that it shows the remnant of the old Free Bridge soon after the other half had been dynamited into the river, which was several months after the new bridge that can also be seen opened. This remnant of the Free Bridge was dynamited into the river on 12 July 1972. The debris was removed from the river pretty quickly, so as not to interfere with barge traffic. The required minimum depth of the river channel, which is marked by buoys, is nine feet. If sand piles up in the channel it has to be dredged back to nine feet or greater depth, or the channel has to be relocated to a deeper part of the river. In places the river is shallower than nine feet (not in the channel), in some places deeper. Anyway it wasn't difficult to remove the dynamited skeleton of the Free Bridge from the river. The bridge was built in 1914--one hundred years ago! This photo is likely one of the last to show the old Free Bridge before its demolition. Not including the before-during-and-after photos showing the actual dynamiting that appeared in the local newspapers. There is currently an effort underway to dredge the navigable portion of the river, from Catoosa, Oklahoma, to the Mississippi River, to a depth of 12 feet so that barges could hold more cargo. Congress has approved the project, but hasn't authorized funding for it.
