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2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 21; Former US Route 89 over the Cameron Suspension Bridge

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After making a turn onto US Route 89 southbound from the western terminus of US 160 I made may way through the Navajo Nation towards the Little Colorado River.  While modern US 89 is aligned over a four-lane span across the Little Colorado River it's original alignment just lies west on the Cameron Suspension Bridge.


This article is the 21st entry in the 2016 Fall Mountain Trip Series.  Part 20 regarding US Route 160 in Arizona can be found at the link below:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 20; US Route 160 in Arizona

Note; while I did visit the Cameron Suspension Bridge in 2016 I felt that I took better pictures in 2015.  Therefore I will be using my 2015 Cameron Suspension Bridge photos below.   

The Cameron Suspension Bridge is sometimes referred to the as the "Tanner's Crossing Bridge."  The Cameron Suspension Bridge was completed in 1911 and spans the Little Colorado River at a length of 660 feet.  The Cameron Suspension Bridge was constructed by the Midland Bridge Company and is an identical design to the 1916 Dewey Bridge over the Colorado River in Utah.  The Dewey Bridge unlike the Cameron Suspension Bridge is in ruins and is 503.2 feet in length.

The 2016 Cameron Bridge today carries a pipeline across the Little Colorado River.  Modern day Cameron was founded as a trade post in 1913 but formerly was the location of Tanner's Crossing.  Tanner's Crossing carried ferries over the Little Colorado River on a Mormon Emigrant Trail.  The Little Colorado River was a huge obstruction to travel in Northern Arizona close in scale to the Colorado River crossing at Lee's Ferry near the Vermillion Cliffs.  The 1911 Cameron Suspension Bridge upon completion made travel in the northern frontier much easier to traverse.


Despite being a major river crossing the Cameron Suspension Bridge appears to never have been part of a Auto Trail.   No Auto Trails are displayed over the Cameron Suspension Bridge on the Rand McNally Four Corners Region Highway Map in 1924.


US Route 89 was selected during late 1926 to be aligned over the Little Colorado River via the Cameron Suspension Bridge.  Early US 89 in Northern Arizona still had to use Lee's Ferry to cross the Colorado River until the original Navajo Bridge was completed in 1929.  US 89 over the Cameron Suspension Bridge can be first seen on the 1927 Rand McNally Arizona/New Mexico Highway Map.


The Cameron Suspension Bridge was replaced in 1959 when much of the original alignment of US 89 in the Navajo Nation was being realigned.  The Cameron Suspension Bridge can easily be found on the south cliff-face of the Little Colorado River behind the Cameron Trading Post.






From the Cameron Suspension Bridge I made a turn westward from US 89 onto AZ 64 towards Grand Canyon National Park.


Part 22 of the 2016 Fall Mountain Series can be found below:

2016 Fall Mountain Trip Part 22; Grand Canyon National Park, Arizona State Route 64, and the weird west terminus of US Route 180
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