The I. B. Perrine Bridge is a four-lane truss arch span in the

western United States The Western United States (also called the American West, the Far West, and the West) is the region comprising the westernmost states of the United States. As American settlement in the U.S. expanded westward, the meaning of the term ''the We ...

. Located at Twin Falls,

Idaho Idaho ( ) is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. To the north, it shares a small portion of the Canada–United States border with the province of British Columbia. It borders the states of Montana and Wyomi ...

, it carries

U.S. Highway 93 U.S. Route 93 (US 93) is a major north–south United States highway, numbered highway in the western United States. The southern terminus is at U.S. Route 60 in Arizona, US 60 in Wickenburg, Arizona. The northern terminus is at the ...

over the Snake River Canyon, connecting to Jerome County and Interstate 84. The Perrine Bridge is approximately in total length, with a main span of and a deck height of above the Snake River it is the eighth highest bridge in the United States. The

elevation The elevation of a geographic location is its height above or below a fixed reference point, most commonly a reference geoid, a mathematical model of the Earth's sea level as an equipotential gravitational surface (see Geodetic datum § Ver ...

above

sea level Mean sea level (MSL, often shortened to sea level) is an average surface level of one or more among Earth's coastal bodies of water from which heights such as elevation may be measured. The global MSL is a type of vertical datuma standardise ...

for the bridge deck is approximately . The bridge is named for I. B. Perrine (1861–1943), who spearheaded the early 20th century

irrigation Irrigation (also referred to as watering) is the practice of applying controlled amounts of water to land to help grow crops, landscape plants, and lawns. Irrigation has been a key aspect of agriculture for over 5,000 years and has been devel ...

projects in the

Magic Valley The Magic Valley is a region in south-central Idaho constituting Blaine, Camas, Cassia, Gooding, Jerome, Lincoln, Minidoka, and Twin Falls counties. It is particularly associated with the agricultural region in the Snake River Plain located ...

region and is largely credited as the main founder of Twin Falls; a statue of Perrine is at the visitors' center at the south end of the bridge.

History

Originally named the ''Twin Falls-Jerome Intercounty Bridge'', a steel

cantilever bridge A cantilever bridge is a bridge built using structures that project horizontally into space, supported on only one end (called cantilevers). For small footbridges, the cantilevers may be simple beams; however, large cantilever bridges designed ...

was opened to traffic in September 1927, and formally dedicated by governor H. C. Baldridge on October 1, 1927. The privately financed $750,000 structure (equivalent to $ million in dollars) was originally a

toll bridge A toll bridge is a bridge where a monetary charge (or '' toll'') is required to pass over. Generally the private or public owner, builder and maintainer of the bridge uses the toll to recoup their investment, in much the same way as a toll road ...

; the tolls were eliminated in April 1940 after the bridge was purchased by the state of Idaho for $482,000 (equivalent to $ million in dollars). By the early 1970s, the original bridge was outdated and unable to handle heavy loads and required replacement. Construction of the current bridge began in May 1973 and was completed in July 1976 at a cost of $10.56 million (equivalent to $ million in dollars). The new bridge was dedicated on July 31, 1976; the original cantilever bridge to the west was later disassembled.

Tourism

Located at the southwest end of the Perrine Bridge is the Twin Falls Visitor Center featuring souvenirs and gifts, Idaho products, visitor information, and interactive exhibits highlighting the recreational and historical activities and attractions in the region. The visitor center has views of the canyon, bridge, and access to the trail system along the canyon rim. Trails go under the bridge on either side which offers vantage points of the bridge and its structure. To the east, along the south rim of the canyon, lies the dirt ramp used by

Evel Knievel Robert Craig "Evel" Knievel (; October 17, 1938 – November 30, 2007) was an American stunt performer and entertainer. Over the course of his career, he attempted more than 75 ramp-to-ramp motorcycle jumps. Knievel was inducted into the Motor ...

when he unsuccessfully attempted his Snake River Canyon jump on the

Skycycle X-2 The Skycycle X-2 was a steam-powered rocket owned by Evel Knievel and flown during his Snake River Canyon jump in Idaho in 1974. An earlier prototype was designed, named the Skycycle X-1, by Doug Malewicki and retired U.S. Navy engineer Robert ...

in September 1974; the jump failed because of a parachute malfunction. The ramp where he made the leap sits on private property about east of the bridge and is visible from the bridge as well as various vantage points along the Canyon Trail. A memorial to Knievel is located near the bridge; it was dedicated in September 1985, at a small ceremony attended by Knievel.

BASE jumping

The Perrine Bridge is a popular BASE jumping site known all over the world; it may be the only man-made structure in the United States where BASE jumping is allowed year-round without a permit. Jumpers often use the nearby visitor center as a home base before and after parachuting from the bridge. The first documented and video-recorded/photographed jumps from the bridge were in 1987, by three residents of Twin Falls (former U.S. Army paratroopers) who static line jumped the bridge using military surplus MC1-1B parachutes. It was done after a test drop of a 55-gallon (210 liter) drum in a

T-10 parachute The T-10 Parachute is a series of static line-deployed parachutes used by the United States armed forces for combat mass-assault airborne operations and training. The T-10 parachute was introduced in the early 1950s. In 1976, the B model introd ...

harness and canopy was used. Multiple successful jumps were conducted without incident or injury. In the early 1990s, bungee jumping and parachuting off the bridge gained popularity, but was still against the law; by the end of the decade, BASE jumping was legal. In July 2006, Dan Schilling jumped off the bridge 201 times in 21 hours to raise money for charity; Schilling was hoisted to the top of the bridge by a crane after every jump. Three base jumpers have to date perished jumping from the Perrine Bridge; Brandon John Chance, James E Hickey, and Kristin Renee Czyz.

History

Tourism

BASE jumping

Gallery

See also

References

External links