Royal Gorge Bridge

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The Royal Gorge Bridge
The canyon under the bridge

The Royal Gorge Bridge near Cañon City , a small town around 150 km south of Denver in the US state of Colorado , is one of the tallest bridges in the world. The suspension bridge crosses the whitewater of the Arkansas River over the Royal Gorge at a height of the roadway of 291 meters. It was the tallest bridge in the world from the time it was completed in 1929 until the Liuguanghe Bridge opened in 2001 .

The Royal Gorge Bridge was built as a pure tourist attraction and part of an amusement park and never served as an effective road link. The crossing of the Arkansas River above the gorge was a lot easier and was built in the 1870s on the route of today's US-50 on the occasion of the construction of the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad through the gorge of the Arkansas River. It was not until 1955, around 25 years after the opening of the Royal Gorge Bridge, that the Fremont-County-Road-3a was continued over the bridge to US-50 and thus enabled a round trip without having to cross the bridge again.

In 2003 it lost the title of the highest suspension bridge to the Beipanjiang Bridge over the Beipan Jiang in Zhenfeng , which in turn was surpassed by the Siduhe Bridge in 2009. However, it is still the tallest bridge in the United States .

Until the fire on June 11, 2013, the single-lane bridge was open to passenger cars for a toll. Since the bridge was reopened in 2014, any individual crossing with private vehicles has been prohibited; automobile clubs can be granted an exemption upon request.

The bridge, park and visitor center are open daily during the operating season from 7:00 a.m. to dusk.

From Cañon City, you can take an open view car on the Denver and Rio Grande Western Railroad along Arkansas through the gorge and see the bridge from below.

history

In 1928, the amusement park operator and investor Lon Piper from San Antonio , Texas , brought the idea to those responsible for the city of Cañon City to build a record-high bridge over the Arkansas River and to use the land belonging to the city for an amusement park . Construction of the single-lane bridge, funded by Lon Piper, begins on June 5, 1929 and will be completed in November of that year. The cost is $ 350,000, which is around $ 100,000 above the projected budget. The park is operated by Lon Piper's specially founded Royal Gorge Bridge and Amusement Company . The bridge construction, led by chief engineer George E. Cole, was built in record time and resulted in neither death nor injury. The bridge will be formally opened on December 8, 1929. The Royal Gorge Bridge and Amusement Company undertakes to pay the City of Cañon City, the owner of the property and the gorge, an annual rent of $ 1,000, subject to a clause in the contract " during times of need "reduced to $ 500.

In 1931 the funicular was built with a track width of 914 mm and a gradient of 45 °. This funicular connects the bridge with the valley floor until it is destroyed by the fire on June 11, 2013.

In 1947 Lon Piper sold the bridge and the rights to the park to a group led by Texas oil tycoon and investor Clint Murchison due to financial difficulties ; the new operator of the park is now called the Royal Gorge Bridge Company and is based in Dallas , Texas . Clint Murchison is said to never have visited his amusement park himself.

In 1950 the lodge and the small railway Silver Rock Railway with 612 mm gauge are built, the wagons of which are pulled by a working miniature model of the Huntington CP manufactured by Chance Rides .

In 1956, Murchison and the city of Cañon City decided to compensate for the annual rent of $ 1000 by means of a percentage levy on the income. An extremely lucrative agreement for Cañon City, as revenues are growing to such an extent that the city can lower property taxes to the lowest level in the entire state of Colorado .

In 1967 the Cañon City leases are re- tendered and Murchison's Royal Gorge Bridge Company wins the tender. The lease is now set for 20 years; the rights go to Murchison's death in 1969 to his sons John and Jr. Clint over.

In 1969 the aerial tram called the cable car was built parallel to the bridge.

In 1979, Lucille Murchison, the wife of John Murchison, inherited the operator rights to the park after his death and initiated a comprehensive renovation of the bridge and amusement park.

1980–1984 the bridge and various facilities are extensively renovated. The bridge is getting a new coat of paint, reinforced abutments and new hanging rods . The cost is $ 2.8 million, which is a multiple of the cost of new construction when adjusted for inflation.

In 1983 the bridge and funicular are entered on the National Register of Historic Places . The city of Cañon City is being held as the official owner of the bridge, the funicular and the park area. The Royal Gorge Bridge Company is listed as operator and lessee.

In 1984 the Dallas-based company Leisure and Recreational Concepts took over the management of the operating company Royal Gorge Bridge Company .

In 1999 there was a legal posse between the new owner of the railway line running through the gorge, William Fehr, and the city of Cañon City. Fehr, owner of a gravel pit and a quarry above the gorge, took over the railway line in 1998 because the Union Pacific abandoned the former D&RGW route over the Tennessee Pass . The takeover agreement between Fehr and Union Pacific also included, initially ignored by Fehr, the rights to the "airspace" over the route, which are claimed by the Royal Gorge Bridge, the aerial cableway and the funicular. These rights, which were originally intended to provide the necessary protective measures against falling rocks and avalanches, have been paid for at $ 200 per year since 1929 plus an additional $ 200 for the space used by the funicular. In order to make his railway line more profitable and to be able to integrate it into the attractions of the amusement park, Fehr asks the city administration of Cañon City to transfer the operator concession for the bridge and amusement park, which expires in 2001, to him. After the rejection of his request without explanation, Fehr demands an amount of $ 750,000 per year from the municipality of Cañon City for the use of his "airspace". This then has a legal investigation into the extent to which rights to such "air spaces" are legal at all. Ultimately, an out-of-court agreement was reached on a one-time payment of $ 99,000 in favor of William Fehr.

In 2001 the Royal Gorge Company of Colorado took over the operating license and the park was operated by Royal Gorge Bridge & Park under the direction of former Six Flags Over Texas director Mike Bandera .

In 2003 the Royal Rush Skycoaster opens south of the bridge.

On October 5, 2003, a tragic accident occurred on the Royal Gorge Bridge. After the two base jumpers Jeb Corliss and Dwain Weston jumped out of an airplane, they try to glide over and under the bridge. Both wear a so-called wingsuit . Jeb Corliss flies under the bridge. Dwain Weston, who is supposed to fly over the bridge, comes a few meters too deep, collides with a hanging rod and hits the bridge. He is killed instantly by the impact.

On June 11, 2013, a fire destroyed large parts of the facility, with the bridge itself only causing damage to the wooden planking. The forest fire , which broke out through inattention, burns down 1302  hectares of forest and meadows, of which 873 hectares belong to the amusement park. 48 of 52 buildings, the aerial tram over the gorge, as well as the funicular and other facilities are severely damaged or completely destroyed. On June 13, 2013, those responsible for the park announced that the bridge and the amusement park could be repaired.

On August 30, 2014, after around 100 of the 1292 wooden planks of the roadway were replaced, the bridge will reopen. Crossing with a private car, previously possible for a toll, is no longer permitted. You can visit the bridge either on foot or in a shuttle bus . However, exemptions are granted in response to requests from automobile clubs.

The amusement park will officially reopen on May 8, 2015. Instead of the aerial tram, a group lift with 3 gondolas will be built, the necessary buildings and other facilities will be newly constructed or renovated. The major exceptions are the destroyed funicular railway and the Silver Rock Railway , for which there are currently (as of October 2017) no plans to rebuild them. The cost of rebuilding the park is approximately $ 30 million, of which $ 1.68 million will be covered by insurance.

On May 28, 2015, The Cloudscraper, the highest zip line in North America , will open .

Data

  • Construction of the bridge began on June 5, 1929 and was completed in November of the same year.
  • The bridge's roadway is 291 m above the valley floor.
  • The total length of the bridge is 384 m, the main span is 268 m.
  • The bridge is at almost 2000  meters above sea level.
  • The 5 m wide carriageway consists of a steel construction with 1,292 wooden planks, of which around 250 are replaced every year.
  • The four steel lattice towers are 46 m high and connected by two cables containing 2,100 steel wires. These are anchored in concrete abutments at both ends of the bridge .
  • Construction costs in 1929 were $ 350,000. If the bridge were built today, it would cost around $ 20 million, adjusted for inflation.
  • In 2015 the park recorded a record number of around 350,000 entries. In 2012 around 290,000 visitors were registered.
  • Around 26 million visitors are said to have visited the park since 1929.
  • In 2016, the operating company Royal Gorge Company of Colorado paid $ 2.1 million in leases to the city of Cañon City.

Web links

Commons : Royal Gorge Bridge  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Source references

  1. ↑ Royal Gorge Regional Museum & History Center (English)
  2. ↑ Official website of the park (English)
  3. ↑ Official website of the park (English)
  4. ^ A b c Eric Dexheimer: The Royal Grudge Bridge , Denver Westword, LLC. April 29, 1999. Archived from the original on January 20, 2016. Retrieved on November 20, 2016. 
  5. ↑ Web archive of the operating company Royal Gorge Bridge & Park (English)
  6. ^ Staff: New battle looms for the Royal Gorge , Colorado Central Publishing, LLC. June 1, 1999. Archived from the original on December 13, 2010. Retrieved November 20, 2016. 
  7. ^ Stunt Attempts Proves Fatal for Skydiver , Los Angeles Times . October 6, 2003. Archived from the original on May 15, 2016. Retrieved on November 20, 2016. 
  8. ↑ Official website of the park (English)
  9. ↑ Deb Stanley: Royal Gorge Park reopens Saturday, 14 months after fire damaged the park and bridge , 7ABC-Scripps TV Station Group, The EW Scripps Co. August 29, 2014. Archived from the original on January 30, 2016. Retrieved on August 20 , 2014 . November 2016. 
  10. ↑ Staff: Grand Reopening Showcases How Far Royal Gorge Bridge & Park Has Come Post-Fire , KKTV-11. May 8, 2015. Archived from the original on February 2, 2016. Retrieved on November 20, 2016. 
  11. ^ Andy Koen: Royal Gorge zip line opens , KOAA-TV Channel 5, NBC News Digital, LLC. March 30, 2015. Archived from the original on February 4, 2016. Retrieved November 20, 2016. 
  12. ↑ Cloudscraper Zip Line . 2016. Archived from the original on October 28, 2016. Retrieved on November 20, 2016.
  13. ↑ Archived copy ( Memento of the original dated February 28, 2010 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was automatically inserted and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.royalgorgebridge.com
  14. ^ A b c Andy Koen: Visits to Royal Gorge surpass pre-fire levels by 20 percent , KOAA-TV Channel 5, NBC News Digital, LLC. January 26, 2016. Archived from the original on January 28, 2016. Retrieved January 30, 2016. 

Coordinates: 38 ° 27 ′ 40.9 "  N , 105 ° 19 ′ 30.7"  W.