One of Colorado’s most interesting and famous pieces of infrastructure, the Royal Gorge Bridge, has been damaged in the ongoing Royal Gorge wildfire.
 Photo from Dave Soldano on flickr. |
According to the Denver Post, the bridge’s wooden roadbed is charred. Its steel structure is intact but will need to be evaluated. The aerial tram has been destroyed and its cable collapsed to the bottom of the canyon.
Thankfully, none of the park employees or guests were harmed.
The Royal Gorge Bridge was built in 1929. It is Colorado’s only large suspension bridge, although there are other smaller ones in the state. Until 2001 it was the highest bridge in the world, crossing 955 feet above the Arkansas River. That record is now held by France’s Millau Viaduct China’s Sidu River Bridge.
The Royal Gorge Bridge is still higher above the ground than Millau, which is only 890 feet above the river.