I bin meaning to take a look at this bridge for ages and finally got the chance today:
It's in better nick than the Dewey Bridge bagged in Utah what feels like eons ago, but doesn't look terribly special from this angle.
But from this angle it's a bit more dramatic. 'tis the
Royal Gorge Bridge and is either 955 feet (Wikinaccurate) or 1053 feet (the operator's web site) above the Arkansas River. Built in 1929; was the highest bridge in the wurrrrld until surpassed by those Heathen Chi-Knees in 2001. Highest bridge in USAnia still - the Mike O'Callaghan–Pat Tillman Memorial Bridge down at the Hoover Dam is second, Glen Canyon Bridge is sixth, yesterday's Rio Grande Gorge Bridge is seventh and Navajo Bridge is at number nine, so I've got some good bridges this year
This is what's at the bottom of the gorge - Arkansas River and scenic railroad.
If you are at all scared of heights it is a deeply Scary Thing. I
know it's been there for eighty-five years and that if you can drive a three tonne pickup over it then even the mass of Fatpot Larrington is not going to cause it to fold up like a house of cards, but it makes unsettling noises, you can feel it moving even in the gentle winds of this afternoon and the bridge deck appears to be made of second-hand railway sleepers. And you can see straight down through the gaps between them
All in all, if I'm going to cross the Arkansas River, I prefer something like this:
Bridge carrying a park road across the said Arkansas River just downstream of Pueblo Dam. See how it can support a three tonne pickup without wobbling