Navajo Bridge
| Navajo Bridge | |
|---|---|
View to east with 1929 bridge at left, 1995 bridge at right, and the Echo Cliffs in the background
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| Carries |
 US 89A
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| Crosses | Colorado River at Marble Canyon |
| Locale | Lee's Ferry |
| Official name | Navajo Steel Arch Highway Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | spandrel arch bridge with 90 feet (27 m) rise (both) |
| Material | steel |
| Total length | 834 feet (254 m) 1st 909 feet (277 m) 2nd |
| Width | 18 feet (5.5 m) 1st 44 feet (13 m) 2nd |
| Longest span | 616 feet (188 m) 1st 726 feet (221 m) 2nd |
| No. of spans | 2 |
| Piers in water | 0 |
| Clearance below | 467 feet (142.3 m) 1st 470 feet (143.3 m) 2nd |
| History | |
| Construction begin | June 1927 (1st) May 1993 (2nd) |
| Construction end | 1929 (1st) 1995 (2nd) |
| Opened |
January 12, 1929 (1st) |
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Navajo Steel Arch Highway Bridge
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_in_Marble_Canyon,_Arizona.jpg)
Sign on original bridge with figures
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| Nearest city | Page, Arizona |
| Coordinates | 36°49′2″N 111°37′53″W / 36.81722°N 111.63139°WCoordinates: 36°49′2″N 111°37′53″W / 36.81722°N 111.63139°W |
| Built | 1927 |
| Architect | Arizona Highway Dept.; Et al. |
| Architectural style | Other |
| MPS | Vehicular Bridges in Arizona MPS |
| NRHP Reference # | 81000134 |
| Added to NRHP | August 13, 1981 |
January 12, 1929 (1st)
May 2, 1995 (2nd)
Navajo Bridge is a pair of steel spandrel arch bridges that cross the Colorado River near Lee's Ferry in northern Arizona. The newer bridge of the pair carries vehicular traffic on U.S. Route 89A (US 89A) over Marble Canyon between southern Utah and the Arizona Strip, allowing travel into a remote region north of the Colorado River including the North Rim of Grand Canyon National Park.
Prior to completion of the first Navajo Bridge, one of the only Colorado River crossings between Arizona and Utah was located about 5 mi (8.0 km) upstream from the bridge site, at the mouth of Glen Canyon where Lee's Ferry service had operated since 1873. The ferry site had been chosen as the only relatively easy access to the river for both northbound and southbound travellers. By the 1920s, automobile traffic began using the ferry service though it was not considered a safe and reliable crossing as adverse weather and flooding regularly prevented its operation.
The dedication of the original bridge was on June 14–15, 1929 with an official name of the Grand Canyon Bridge. The state legislature changed the name to Navajo Bridge five years later in 1934. The original bridge was closed to vehicular traffic and opened only for pedestrian and equestrian use once the new bridge was opened in 1995.
The dual spans of Navajo Bridge are tied at ninth place among the highest bridges in the United States with nearly identical heights of 467 feet (142.3 m) for the original span, and 470 feet (143.3 m) for the second span.
Construction of the original Navajo Bridge began in 1927, and the bridge opened to traffic in 1929. The bridge was paid for by the nascent Arizona State Highway Commission (now the Arizona Department of Transportation) in cooperation with the United States Department of the Interior's Bureau of Indian Affairs, as the eastern landing is on the Navajo Nation. The steel spandrel bridge design was constructed by the Kansas City Structural Steel Company. During construction, worker Lane McDaniel died after falling 470 feet (143 m) to the Colorado River below. Supervisors had rejected the idea of rigging safety netting, believing that it would catch on fire from falling hot rivets.
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Wikipedia