Close to 1,900 visitors to Land Between the Lakes Saturday got a last look at the M/V Delta Mariner with the tangled wreckage of the Eggner's Ferry Bridge draped over its bow.

LBL officials opened a special public viewing area on the Trigg County side of the collapsed bridge as salvage operations began on the 8,600-ton, shallow draft, ocean-going cargo vessel that struck the bridge on the night of January 26, knocking a 322-foot span into Kentucky Lake. There were no injuries.

Following the Saturday event, the area was closed to the public. The 312-foot-long ship carries rocket parts from their manufacturer in Decatur, Ala., to Cape Canaveral, Fla., and Vandenburg Air Force Base in California.

Photos by BERRY CRAIG