Navajo Bridge

Navajo Bridge, graceful and beautiful, is one of Arizona's spectacular attraction. Beyond are seen the lovely Vermilion Cliffs which parallel the highway for about 20 miles, rising steeply to a height of more than a thousand feet-bright red, shading into orange and greens. THERE ARE SEVERAL spectacular and beautiful highway bridges in Arizona and of the six crossing the great Colorado River, Navajo Bridge, spanning tortuous Marble Canyon, 125 miles north of Flagstaff on U. S. Highway 89, is an engineering accomplishment as well as an object of great beauty. Constructed entirely of steel with concrete floor and 18-foot clear roadway, built at a cost of $350,000, Navajo Bridge has a total length of 834 feet, consisting of one main arch span of 616 feet, two 84-foot approach spans on the Fredonia side and one 50foot approach span on the Flagstaff side. The total height from the river to the floor of the bridge is 467 feet, one of the highest highway bridges in the world. Designed and constructed by the Arizona Highway Department in cooperation with the Bureau of Public Roads acting for the United States Indian Service, work on the bridge was started in August, 1927, and was completed in mid-January, 1929. Dedicated in June of that year, in the presence of several thousand Arizona and Utah citizens, it opened to the tourist a short route through northern Arizona into southern Utah, a route famed for scenic splendor. It completes the one important link on U. S. Highway 89 between Nogales, Arizona, on the Mexican border, and Salt Lake City, Utah, a distance of approxi-mately 1,000 road miles. Since its construction, Navajo Bridge has superseded historic Lee's Ferry seven miles upstream, which was operated from 1872. Hardy Mormon pioneers, forging south from Utah, crossed the river here in crude ferry boats with their cattle and covered wagons. The new bridge is still referred to by old timers as Lee's Ferry bridge. However, the highway department has officially named it Navajo Bridge.

Spanning the rocky, steep-walled Marble Canyon, the highway bed of Navajo Bridge measures 467 feet above the surface of the Colorado River-one of the highest highway bridges in the world.