South Canyon Bridge

“When the Garfield County commissioners received the first petition late in 1902 from the Boston-Colorado Coal Company for a bridge over the Grand (Colorado) River to the newly opened mines in South Canon, they instead built a temporary ferry at the crossing. After eleven years of intermittent petitioning from the mine operators and nearby residents, the county finally advertised for proposals for a steel truss to replace the ferry. In 1914 the Missouri Valley Bridge and Iron Company was awarded the construction contract from a field of six bidders, for $9430. Despite a delay-filled erection, in which the superstructure was washed away once, this 190′ span was completed in May 1915. It still remains in place in good condition but has more recently been replaced with another bridge and abandoned.

As a subtype of the Pratt configuration, the Pennsylvania truss was generally used in long-span applications in which mid-panel bracing was required for stability. It was an uncommon vehicular truss form, and only two pinned Pennsylvania through trusses are included in the survey. Both the South Canon Bridge and the Rifle Bridge (GA06) have been replaced and no longer function as roadway spans. One of the last remaining examples of a visually striking long-span bridge type, built by a nationally important bridge contractor, the South Canon Bridge is one of Colorado’s more significant early bridges.”