A Ray County bridge might make the National Register of Historic Places.

If it does, however, it probably won’t be in the same location where many Ray Countians remember it standing.

The Morton Bridge, also identified as bridge No. 25700161, is eligible for the National Register under Criterion C-Engineering at a Local Level. Built in 1889 by the Wrought Iron Bridge Co. of Canton, Ohio, the bridge is an example of a Pratt-through-truss bridge, a type of bridge advertised in Wrought Iron’s 1882 catalogue as the “most universally adopted for both railway and highway bridges of medium span.”

A pin-connected, six-panel bridge that rests on concrete-block piers, the Morton Bridge features wooden decking with two approach spans that are multiband, fixed-metal stringers. The bridge is 162 feet long with a 102-foot span. The deck width is 10.8 feet and it has a vertical clearance of 13 feet.

Through June, the Ray County Commission was accepting proposals to relocate and reuse the bridge or its components. The commission, which met briefly Tuesday at the Ray County Courthouse in Richmond to discuss the Morton Bridge and its current state, continues to look through proposals.

The commissioners remain hopeful the bridge will be relocated, they said.

For more information about the Morton Bridge, contact Ray County Presiding Commissioner Bob King by phone, 816-776-4507; regular mail, sent to the courthouse, 200 W.

Main St., Richmond, MO 64085; or email, raycountycommisssioners@ yahoo.com.