Early last June, a rush of water swept a pickup into swirling floodwaters at Potter’s Ford. On top of the truck, a 6-year-old girl hung on for her life until rescuers could get to her.

"You have a lot of high water problems; people want to get home and you end up in the stream,” said Cal Pincombe, who lives near the area.

"This will get folks away from the temptation of a low water crossing,” said Presiding County Commissioner David Coonrod.

"I think this is a whole lot better. It's safer,” said Pincombe.

It’s faster and feet above any threat of wash-offs. It could also cut down on litter in the river.

"We've had a lot of problems with trash and I think that's going to be greatly improved now,” said Coonrod.

"Certainly, outside of Noah's flood, we're going to be okay with this one,”

County commissioners say this is all part of a multi-year project to repair or rebuild several crossings in the county.

The new concrete I-girder bridge is 276 long and engineers say it’s designed to withstand a 25-year flood. The project includes reconstruction of more than 2,000 feet of Farm Road 221, as well as new guardrail, fencing, signing, striping and replacement of utility lines. Construction began in spring 2007 and was done in May.

The $1.2 million included design, right-of-way acquisition and construction. Great River Engineering of Springfield designed it and Burk Bridge Company built it.