Grand Glaize Bridge
The Grand Glaize Bridge refers to two girder bridges that cross the Grand Glaize Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks, between Osage Beach and Laguna Beach, in Missouri. On maps, it is listed as Grandglaize to differentiate it from the Grand Glaize Creek, but locally it is referred to by two words.
The original Grand Glaize Bridge was constructed in 1931 at the same time as the Bagnall Dam and Lake of the Ozarks. It was designed as a deck truss, or Warren truss structure. This meant that the trusses were built under the deck, thus allowing traffic to see the lake. It was a very unusual design and the bridge soon became known as the “upside down bridge”. Other bridges built across the lake at the time also followed a similar design. This bridge was infamous for having extremely narrow lanes and no hard shoulders, plus steel railings as barriers. A parallel bridge carrying eastbound traffic was built in 1984. A second girder bridge was finished in 1995 and the original bridge was torn down upon completion.
History buffs come to Lake of the Ozarks to see the location where the lost deck truss bridge once stretched across the Grand Glaize Arm of the Lake of the Ozarks. It was one of many famous and historical bridges to grace the local area. The image of the bridge can still be seen in hundreds of picture postcards taken from the era. In the 1980’s, local residents used to adorn the bridge at Christmas time with festive decorations.
