The Red Rock Bridge was a bridge across the

Colorado River The Colorado River ( es, Río Colorado) is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and northern Mexico. The river drains an expansive, arid drainage basin, watershed that encompasses parts of ...

at Topock,

Arizona Arizona ( ; nv, Hoozdo Hahoodzo ; ood, Alĭ ṣonak ) is a state in the Southwestern United States. It is the 6th largest and the 14th most populous of the 50 states. Its capital and largest city is Phoenix. Arizona is part of the Fou ...

that carried the

Atlantic & Pacific Railroad The Atlantic and Pacific Railroad was a U.S. railroad that owned or operated two disjointed segments, one connecting St. Louis, Missouri with Tulsa, Oklahoma, and the other connecting Albuquerque, New Mexico with Needles, California, Needles in ...

. It was built in 1890, replacing a wooden bridge dating to 1883 that was repeatedly washed out during spring flooding. It was used by the railroad until 1945 when a new bridge was built. The Red Rock Bridge was then converted to carry the automobile traffic of

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) was one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The h ...

, and did so from 1947 until 1966 when Route 66 traffic was directed onto the

Interstate 40 Interstate 40 (I-40) is a major east–west Interstate Highway running through the south-central portion of the United States. At a length of , it is the third-longest Interstate Highway in the country, after I-90 and I-80. From west to ea ...

bridge. At that time the Red Rock Bridge was abandoned, and it was eventually dismantled in 1976.

History

In 1880, the Atlantic & Pacific railroad's Western division began construction of a line from

Isleta, New Mexico Isleta Village Proper is a census-designated place (CDP) in Bernalillo County, New Mexico, United States. The population was 491 at the 2010 census. It is part of the Albuquerque Metropolitan Statistical Area. Geography Isleta Village Proper is ...

, heading west to meet the

Southern Pacific The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

Needles, California Needles is a city in San Bernardino County, California, in the Mojave Desert region of Southern California. Situated on the western banks of the Colorado River, Needles is located near the Californian border with Arizona and Nevada. The city is a ...

, on the western bank of the Colorado just north of Topock. The Southern Pacific was simultaneously building eastward from Mohave, California, to Needles. The line reached

Kingman, Arizona Kingman is a city in, and the county seat of, Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It is named after Lewis Kingman, an engineer for the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad. It is located southeast of Las Vegas, Nevada, and northwest of Arizona's ...

, in 1882. The first bridge across the Colorado, made entirely of wood, was completed in May 1883 and the two railroads met in Needles August 9 of that year. This crossing was at

Eastbridge, Arizona Eastbridge was a railroad station on the east bank of the Colorado River in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. It was located at the site of the first bridge the Atlantic and Pacific Railroad built across that river, three miles southeast of ...

, three miles south of Needles. The bridge was over long and was built on

piling A deep foundation is a type of foundation that transfers building loads to the earth farther down from the surface than a shallow foundation does to a subsurface layer or a range of depths. A pile or piling is a vertical structural element ...

s driven into the

alluvial Alluvium (from Latin ''alluvius'', from ''alluere'' 'to wash against') is loose clay, silt, sand, or gravel that has been deposited by running water in a stream bed, on a floodplain, in an alluvial fan or beach, or in similar settings. Alluv ...

soils of the

flood plain A floodplain or flood plain or bottomlands is an area of land adjacent to a river which stretches from the banks of its channel to the base of the enclosing valley walls, and which experiences flooding during periods of high discharge.Goudi ...

of the

Mohave Valley The Mohave Valley is a valley located mostly on the east shore of the south-flowing Colorado River in northwest Arizona. The valley extends into California's San Bernardino County; the northern side of the valley extends into extreme southeast ...

. The site had no solid base on either bank. The wooden bridge was washed away in 1884, rebuilt and again destroyed in 1886, and again in 1888. This led the railroad to seek a better bridge that could withstand the strong spring currents of the Colorado when it carried the winter snow melt. A new crossing was located about farther south at

Topock, Arizona Topock ( Mojave: Tuupak) (pronounced ''/'Toe-pock'/'' by locals) is a small unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population within the CDP was 2. Topock a ...

where the bridge could be built on rock foundations. Topock-red_rock_bridge

In 1890, the railroad hired the Phoenix Iron Company to build a new bridge, one of the first

steel Steel is an alloy made up of iron with added carbon to improve its strength and fracture resistance compared to other forms of iron. Many other elements may be present or added. Stainless steels that are corrosion- and oxidation-resistant ty ...

bridges in the country. The cost was nearly $500,000 which was considered very expensive at the time. The bridge was a single-track

cantilever A cantilever is a rigid structural element that extends horizontally and is supported at only one end. Typically it extends from a flat vertical surface such as a wall, to which it must be firmly attached. Like other structural elements, a canti ...

through-truss bridge. The bridge had a center suspended span of , a clearance of above the high water level of the river, and contained 750 tons of steel. It was designed by

John Alexander Low Waddell Dr. John Alexander Low Waddell (January 15, 1854 – March 3, 1938, often shortened to J.A.L. Waddell and sometimes known as John Alexander Waddell) was a Canadian-American civil engineer and prolific bridge designer, with more than a thousa ...

and was built in eighty days under Wadell's supervision. When constructed, it was the largest cantilever bridge in the country. The bridge was built at the head of Mohave Canyon, within

Topock Gorge Topock Gorge is a mountainous canyon and gorge section of the Colorado River located between Interstate 40 and Lake Havasu. The town of Needles, California, to the northwest, was named for the "needle-like" vertical rock outcroppings. The natu ...

, upon piers of red

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

quarried A quarry is a type of open-pit mining, open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock (geology), rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some juri ...

in Prescott Junction. The piers, one on each bank apart and a third in the river from the west bank, were built by Sooysmith & Co. Connecting the new bridge to the old track required about of new track on the California side and about on the Arizona side. Because of increasing weights of trains, the bridge was strengthened in 1901 with additional stringers and heavier floor beams. Even heavier

locomotives A locomotive or engine is a rail transport vehicle that provides the motive power for a train. If a locomotive is capable of carrying a payload, it is usually rather referred to as a multiple unit, motor coach, railcar or power car; the u ...

required further strengthening of the

trusses A truss is an assembly of ''members'' such as beams, connected by ''nodes'', that creates a rigid structure. In engineering, a truss is a structure that "consists of two-force members only, where the members are organized so that the assembla ...

in 1910.

Early use by automobiles

Automobiles using the

National Old Trails Road National Old Trails Road, also known as the Ocean-to-Ocean Highway, was established in 1912, and became part of the National Auto Trail system in the United States. It was long and stretched from Baltimore, Maryland (some old maps indicate Ne ...

crossed the Colorado in the early 20th century by the Needles Ferry. Flooding in 1914 disabled the ferry service, and the bridge was put into use by cars when wooden planks were laid across the railroad ties. Railroad employees allowed cars onto the bridge between scheduled train traffic. The railroad charged each motorist a

toll Toll may refer to: Transportation * Toll (fee) a fee charged for the use of a road or waterway ** Road pricing, the modern practice of charging for road use ** Road toll (historic) The road toll was a historical fee charged to travellers and ...

to cross the bridge. This continued until the opening of the

Old Trails Bridge The Old Trails Bridge is a historic bridge over the Colorado River in San Bernardino County and Mohave County in the United States, that is listed on the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP). It has also been known as Topock Bridge and a ...

, approximately downstream, on February 20, 1916.

Wildlife Refuge

In 1941, of the lower Colorado, from Needles to

Lake Havasu City, Arizona Lake Havasu City (, ) is a city in Mohave County, Arizona, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population of the city was 57,144, up from 52,527 in 2010. It is served by Lake Havasu City Airport. History The community first started as an ...

was designated as the

Havasu National Wildlife Refuge Havasu National Wildlife Refuge is a U.S. National Wildlife Refuge on the lower Colorado River in Arizona and California. It preserves habitat for desert bighorn sheep, the endangered southwestern willow flycatcher, and other animals. The refug ...

to provide

habitat In ecology, the term habitat summarises the array of resources, physical and biotic factors that are present in an area, such as to support the survival and reproduction of a particular species. A species habitat can be seen as the physical ...

for

migratory bird Bird migration is the regular seasonal movement, often north and south along a flyway, between Breeding in the wild, breeding and wintering grounds. Many species of bird migrate. Animal migration, Migration carries high costs in predation a ...

s. The Red Rock Bridge was within the refuge.

Replacement

Topock AZ - Californai and Arizona Borders on the Colorado River (NBY_436813)

By 1945, the railroad (now the Santa Fe) constructed a new rail bridge over the Colorado. The railroad agreed to remove the Red Rock bridge at the time the replacement bridge was authorized. However, since the Old Trails Bridge was insufficient to carry the current auto and truck traffic of

, it was decided that the Red Rock Bridge could be used for the roadway. Re-purposing the bridge was also less expensive than demolition. A

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

, introduced by Arizona Senator

Ernest McFarland Ernest William McFarland (October 9, 1894 – June 8, 1984) was an American politician, jurist and, with Warren Atherton, one of the "Fathers of the G.I. Bill." He is the only Arizonan to serve in the highest office in all three branches of Ariz ...

on November 30, 1944 and subsequently passed by

Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of a ...

authorizing the railroad to convey ownership of the bridge to the states of California and Arizona and was signed into law by President Roosevelt on January 6, 1945. Joint ownership by the states of the bridge was accepted on August 24, 1945, in the office of Arizona Governor Sidney Osborn. The railway also donated several miles of right of way leading to the bridge. The ties were removed and replaced with a concrete road deck, at an estimated cost of $60,000. California allocated $130,000 for the project, including approach work. The bridge provided a vehicular river crossing without the weight limit that was imposed at the Old Trails Bridge. The Red Rock Bridge re-opened for auto traffic on May 21, 1947, now carrying US 66. The Old Trails Bridge was subsequently sold to private ownership, becoming the property of

Pacific Gas and Electric The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) is an American investor-owned utility (IOU). The company is headquartered in the Pacific Gas & Electric Building, in San Francisco, California. PG&E provides natural gas and electricity to 5.2 milli ...

, which retrofitted the bridge to carry a natural gas pipeline across the Colorado River. The Red Rock functioned as a highway bridge for almost twenty years, until Interstate 40 was built with a new four-lane steel bridge. The old bridge was abandoned in 1966 and stood unused until it was demolished in 1976. The only remnants are concrete pilings on either side of the river where the bridge once stood, where Old Trails Bridge remains standing, still a vital part of an operational gas pipeline.

References

{{reflist , 30em, refs= {{Cite book , url = https://books.google.com/books?id=4Jj2ICMdki4C , title = Route 66: Lost & Found , volume = 2 , last = Olsen , first = Russell A. , date = 2006 , publisher = MBI Publishing , isbn = 1610604997 , location = St. Paul, Minnesota , oclc = 53911737 , via = Google Books {{cite book, last1=Olsen, first1=Russell A., title=The Complete Route 66 Lost & Found, date=2008, publisher=Voyageur Press, isbn=9781610600132, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=fOOEXzXkZNMC, page=288 {{cite book, last1=Sonderman, first1=Joe, title=Images of American Route 66 in Arizona, date=2010, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=9780738579429, pages=127, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=-xtR4QCcA8AC {{cite book, last1=Fitzpatrick, first1=Linda, last2=Conkle, first2=James M., title=Needles, Images of America, date=2010, publisher=Arcadia Publishing, isbn=9780738580647, page=29, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=6kEnrQ1JGCwC {{cite book, title=Steel Construction Digest, date=1944, publisher=American Institute of Steel Construction {{cite book, last1=Tyrell, first1=Henry Grattan, title=History of Bridge Engineering, date=1911, location=Chicago, pages=274, url=https://books.google.com/books?id=l0pDAAAAIAAJ {{cite book, last1=Lingenfelter, first1=Richard E., title=Steamboats on the Colorado River, 1852–1916, date=1978, publisher=The University of Arizona Press, location=Tucson, isbn=0816506507, page=82, url=http://www.ansac.az.gov/UserFiles/PDF/08182014/X028_FMIBurtellLingenfelterSteamboats/FMI%20Lingenfelter%20Steamboats/Steamboats%20on%20the%20Colorado%20River%201852-1916.pdf, access-date=18 April 2017 {{cite news, last1=Lowenthal, first1=Pete, title=The New Bridge, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10347370/red_rock_bridge_topock_arizona/, access-date=18 April 2017, work=The Arizona Sentinel, date=February 9, 1889, location=Yuma, Arizona, page=3, via=

Newspapers.com Ancestry.com LLC is an American genealogy company based in Lehi, Utah. The largest for-profit genealogy company in the world, it operates a network of genealogical, historical records, and related genetic genealogy websites. In November 2018, ...

{{free access {{cite news, title=Bill Signed to Convey Bridge to West States, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10347557/red_rock_bridge_topock_arizona/, access-date=18 April 2017, work=Tucson Daily Citizen, date=January 6, 1945, page=9, via=

{{free access {{cite news, title=Railway Bridge Is To Carry Highway, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10347664/red_rock_bridge_topock_arizona/, access-date=18 April 2017, work=Tucson Daily Citizen, date=August 24, 1945, page=14, via=

{{free access {{cite news, title=Uncle Sam Offered A.T.&S.F. Bridge, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10347896/oakland_tribune/, access-date=18 April 2017, work=Oakland Tribure, date=November 30, 1944, page=11, via=

{{free access {{cite news, title=$130,000 Allocated For Desert Highway Bridge, url=https://www.newspapers.com/clip/10497267/the_san_bernardino_county_sun/, access-date=24 April 2017, work=The San Bernardino County Sun, date=July 20, 1945, page=5, via=

{{free access {{cite web, title=About the Refuge – Havasu National Wildlife Refuge, url=https://www.fws.gov/refuge/Havasu/about.html, website=fws.gov, access-date=26 April 2017 Bridges over the Colorado River Former road bridges in the United States Truss bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1890 Road bridges in Arizona Road bridges in California Railroad bridges in Arizona Railroad bridges in California Buildings and structures in Mohave County, Arizona Buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California U.S. Route 66 in California U.S. Route 66 in Arizona Bridges on U.S. Route 66 Steel bridges in the United States Cantilever bridges in the United States