Dewey Bridge Destroyed!
Just came across this article on the Salt Lake Tribune’s website.
An historic suspension bridge was destroyed Sunday when a young boy started a brush fire by playing with matches, Grand County sheriff’s deputies said.
The fire started at about 4 p.m. at the campground and boat ramp on Highway 128 near the Colorado River, deputies wrote in a statement. The fire moved up the river bank and “totally destroyed” the bridge, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, according to the state’s historical Web site.
The bridge was built in 1916 and “is significant for its outstanding engineering accomplishment and for its historical role as a vital transportation and commercial link connecting southeastern Utah with Colorado and other points east,” the Web site states.
Until Sunday, it was the state’s longest clear-span bridge – that is, the longest bridge with no supports built into the waterway it crosses.
This is terrible news. I have enjoyed photographing the bridge on a few different occasions. Amanda and I were just there a few weeks ago, and actually stayed at the same campground that it seems this fire originated from.
Here’s a few pictures of the bridge from just over two weeks ago.
