Before bridges were built, people living north of Vinton had to cross the Red Cedar by boat to come to town. A ferry was established in June 1852 to help with cargo, and the county judge set passage rates for foot passengers, men with horse and vehicle, wagons with two horses, additional horses, cattle, sheep, and hogs. After several ferry tragedies, pressure grew to build bridges. Local businessmen formed the Vinton Bridge Company and built a toll bridge in 1857 for $8,000, with fees matching the ferry; it remained a toll bridge until 1862 and was swept away in 1865. By 1865 the condition of the free bridge had deteriorated, requiring a new bridge on A Avenue at a cost of $13,500. By 1876 that wooden bridge was again judged unsafe, and the Clinton Bridge Company constructed a new iron bridge for $20,000; it stood for 59 years. In 1935, Vinton's first concrete bridge was built by WPA with federal and state funding at a cost of $81,000. A new concrete bridge was built in 1984 and was still in use in 2016. Other crossings included the Brandon-Mt. Auburn iron bridge, built in 1909 and washed out in the spring flood of 1965, and the Urbana Bridge, built about 1877, a year after the Vinton bridge.