Sheely Bridge (Ron Krajian Bridge)

Posted on November 18, 2015 by pfiles — No Comments ↓

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Connects: Art Park, Roaring Fork River, John Denver Sanctuary, Rio Grande Trail, Rio Grande Park

The Sheely Bridge, also called the Ron Krajian Bridge, in Aspen

Aspen, CO – Bridge

The Sheely Bridge, originally build in 1911 and called the Carbondale Bridge, is a historic steel truss bridge that spans the Roaring Fork River. The bridge is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. Dedicated in 1986, the bridge is now called the Ron Krajian Bridge.

More information about the bridge can be found at:
National Park Service – National Register of Historic Places – Sheely Bridge
Wikipedia – Sheely Bridge

The National Register of Historic Places description reads: (Click to expand)

“By early 1911 the bridge at Carbondale over the Roaring Fork River, built in the 1890s, had been allowed to deteriorate beyond repair, and the Garfield County commissioners termed it “entirely unfit for travel”. Declaring an emergency in February, they contracted with Charles G. Sheely of Denver to erect a 120′ steel through truss of his design on poured concrete abutments for $6300. The bridge was completed and accepted in May 1911. Around 1966 it was shortened by two panels and moved upstream to its present location in Aspen. There it serves as a pedestrian bridge in Mill Street Park.

A locally important roadway crossing of the Roaring Fork River – one of several between Glenwood Springs and Aspen, the Carbondale Bridge is significant as the earliest remaining riveted Pratt through truss and one of the earliest riveted trusses in Colorado and as one of few bridges left that was erected by Sheely, an important early bridge contractor. Moved, repaired and used as a pedestrian span, it is perhaps the most successful recent adaptive reuse in the survey.”

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