Skip to main content

Bridge Monday; the Roosevelt Lake Bridge and Roosevelt Dam

By
Back in the early 2010s I frequently visited Gila County Arizona.  Often my travel took me up Arizona State Route 88 (usually for fun) and Arizona State Route 188.  The junction of AZ 88 and AZ 188 holds what was two significant bridging structures of Roosevelt Lake; the Roosevelt Dam and Roosevelt Lake Arch Bridge.


AZ 88 is one of the oldest State Highways in Arizona dating back to 1927.  While the highway was originally intended to be signed as AZ 66 the designation of AZ 88 was ultimately chosen due to US 66 being assigned over what was intended to be US 60 in Arizona.  As originally signed AZ 88 stretched from US Route 80 in Apache Junction east to the first US 180 in Globe.  By 1927 Roosevelt Dam was long completed since 1911 as it was the signature structure of the Salt River Project.  Roosevelt Dam was used as a bridging structure from AZ 88 north to the road to Payson.  This 1927 highway map of Arizona shows the location of Roosevelt Dam on the initial alignment of AZ 88.

1927 State Highway Map  

Construction of Roosevelt Dam began along the Salt River in Gila County by 1903, as stated above the structure was completed by 1911.  Roosevelt Dam and the Salt River Project were part of the 1902 Reclamation Act which paved the way for later more well known public works projects such as the Hoover Dam.  Roosevelt Dam as originally completed was a completely masonry dam and was the largest of it's type at the time.  


According to Arizonaroads.com the route of AZ 188 from AZ 88 at Roosevelt Dam north to Payson was designated in 1958.  At the time the junction of AZ 88 and AZ 188 was at Roosevelt Dam.   AZ 188 can be viewed in it's originally configuration crossing Roosevelt Dam on the 1961 State Highway Map.

Arizonaroads.com on AZ 188 

1961 State Highway Map  

In 1989 an expansion project to raise Roosevelt Dam from 280 feet to 357 began.  Said project was to expand Roosevelt Dam via use of a new masonry cover over the original dam structure.  The Roosevelt Dam expansion project required AZ 188 be shifted onto a new bridge over Roosevelt Lake.  The new Roosevelt Lake Arch bridge was completed by 1992 and remains one of the more scenic bridges in Arizona. 

bridgehunter.com on the Roosevelt Lake Bridge 

According to Arizonaroads.com AZ 188 was shifted over what was AZ 88 east of Roosevelt Dam to Globe by 2000.  The change was apparently instigated due to a new ADOT policy about having a highway have both terminus points at the same route.  






Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more