Hite Crossing Bridge
History
The Colorado River served as a major barrier to early settlers and explorers of the region. In 1880 a prospector named Cass Hite established a ford near the mouth of the Dirty Devil River, 2 miles (3.2 km) downstream from the present-day bridge location. This ford, named "Dandy Crossing", served as one of the few locations in the region where travelers could cross the Colorado River. The settlement that formed at the crossing location took the name of its founder, Hite. In 1946, a settler named Arthur Chaffin constructed an automobile ferry using an old car engine and a thick steel cable to hold it in place. The ferry operated for 20 years, before the rising waters of Lake Powell inundated the settlement of Hite.
The bridge was completed as part of the realignment of State Route 95, which was approved in 1962 due to the construction of Glen Canyon Dam and Lake Powell's subsequent flooding of the original roadway alignment and the original river crossing in Hite. The bridge was designed by David Sargent and was advertised for bids on June 29, 1963 at a cost of approximately US$3 million (equivalent to $23 million in 2023 dollars). The bridge was dedicated on June 3, 1966.
References
- ^ Belknap's Revised Waterproof Canyonlands River Guide, Westwater Books, 1991, ISBN 978-0-916370-11-4
- ^ "Hite Country". Rmock.com. Archived from the original on 2011-07-15. Retrieved 2011-08-19.
- ^ The Deseret News. - Jun 11, 1963 Google News
- ^ Jack Goodman, New York Times, Unnatural Arches; Utah to Dedicate 3 Man-Made Spans In Natural Bridges Area on Friday, May 29, 1966, p. XX17
External links
- Media related to Hite Crossing Bridge at Wikimedia Commons