Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Traveling west from Taos, New Mexico on US 64, you will reach the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge, which is the second highest bridge on the U.S. Highway System. Located 10 miles west of Taos in El Prado, New Mexico, the bridge crosses the deep gorge of the Rio Grande is the only major rift across an otherwise flat expanse of land between the mountains of the Carson National Forest and the Sangre de Cristos.

This impressive bridge is a three span steel truss bridge. At one time, the Rio Grande Gorge Bridge was called the “bridge to nowhere”, because while it was being built, funding did not exist to continue the road on the other side of the bridge from Taos. At 650 feet above the historic and scenic Rio Grande, it is the fifth highest bridge in the United States. The bridge is 1280 feet long with two 300 foot long approach spans with a 600 foot long main span. The bridge was dedicated on September 10, 1965, and in 1966, the American Institute of Steel Construction awarded the bridge the Most Beautiful Steel Bridge in the Long Span category. The bridge has appeared in several films as well, such as including Natural Born Killers and White Sands.

The bridge is one of the most visited tourist attractions in the Taos region with parking areas available on both sides of the bridge. One of the best features of the bridge are several platforms that peer out from the roadway. This allows visitors to stand several feet out above the Rio Grande Gorge. White water rafting is also popular in the region and allows a rare opportunity to view the bridge from the bottom of the canyon. From here, the Rio Grande flows south through the famous Taos “Box” where the river is mostly continuous white water of Class 4+ and 5 in high water.

Located 10 miles (16 km) west of Taos, the deep gorge of the Rio Grande is the only major rift across an otherwise flat expanse of land between the mountains of the Carson National Forest and the Sangre de Cristos.

Rio Grande Gorge Bridge looking northeast.

Looking towards Taos on US 64 eastbound.

It's a long way down to the bottom.

The bridge won an award in 1966. With the surrounding views of the Rio Grande and the gorge, I can understand why.

How to Get There:

Sources and Links:
HighestBridges.com - Rio Grande Gorge Bridge
Taos.org - Rio Grande Gorge Bridge

Comments

Deer Isle Bridge in Maine

As graceful a bridge that I ever set my eyes upon, the Deer Isle Bridge (officially known as the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge) surprisingly caught my eye as I was driving around coastal Maine one Saturday afternoon. About 35 miles south of Bangor, Maine , the Deer Isle Bridge connects the Blue Hill Peninsula of Downeast Maine with Little Deer Isle over the Eggemoggin Reach on ME 15 between the towns of Sedgwick and Deer Isle . It should be noted that Little Deer Isle is connected to Deer Isle by way of a boulder lined causeway, and there is a storied regatta that takes place on the Eggemoggin Reach each summer. But the Deer Isle Bridge holds many stories, not just for the vacationers who spend part of their summer on Deer Isle or in nearby Stonington , but for the residents throughout the years and the folks who have had a hand bringing this vital link to life. The Deer Isle Bridge was designed by David Steinman and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville,

Former US Route 99 through Athlone and the last Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento corridor expressway

Athlone was a siding of the Southern Pacific Railroad located in Merced County on the alignment of what was US Route 99 between the cities of Chowchilla and Merced. The Athlone corridor of US Route 99 was one of the first in San Joaquin Valley to fully upgraded to four lane expressway standards. The Athlone expressway corridor was inherited by California State Route 99 when US Route 99 was truncated to Ashland, Oregon during June 1965. The four-lane expressway through Athlone was the last segment of what had been US Route 99 in the Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento corridor to be bypassed by a freeway. The Athlone expressway corridor was bypassed by the modern California State Route 99 freeway in 2016. Despite being put on a road diet and narrowed what was the Athlone expressway corridor still displays evidence of being part of US Route 99. Above the blog cover photo displays the Athlone expressway corridor of US Route 99 south of Merced as depicted in the July 1939 California Highways &

California State Route 38

California State Route 38 is a fifty-nine-mile State Highway located entirety in San Bernardino County and a component of the Rim of the World Highway. California State Route 38 begins at California State Route 18 at Bear Valley Dam of the San Bernardino Mountains and follows an easterly course on the north shore of Big Bear Lake. California State Route 38 briefly multiplexes California State Route 18 near Baldwin Lake and branches east towards the 8,443-foot-high Onyx Summit. From Onyx Summit the routing of California State Route 38 reverses course following a largely westward path through the San Bernardino Mountains towards a terminus at Interstate 10 in Redlands. Pictured as the blog cover is California State Route 38 at Onyx Summit the day it opened to traffic on August 12th, 1961. Part 1; the history of California State Route 38 California State Route 38 (CA 38) is generally considered to be the back way through the San Bernardino Mountains to Big Bear Lake of Bear Valley

Gribblenation

Search This Blog