Dewey Bridge

The bridge was a bargain from the start: when Grand County couldn't get the state to fund it, voters bonded $25,000 and hired Kansas City's Midland Bridge Company, which narrowed the deck to a single lane to stretch the money. What opened in 1916 was 502 feet of suspended wooden roadway — second-longest west of the Mississippi, behind only its Arizona twin — rated for six horses, three wagons and 9,000 pounds of freight. It carried Highway 128 until 1988; a child with matches burned its deck in 2008. The restoration plaque carries about a hundred donors' names.

What the plaque says

Dewey Bridge Built in 1916 Restored in 2000 Grand County Council & Grand County Historical Preservation Commission Bridges are symbols of progress at many levels: Crossing is always a small ceremony, ending in arrival at some place separated from where we were, except by this slender link. -Anonymous The Dewey Bridge, constructed in 1916, is on the National Register of Historic Places. In its prime it was designed to support the weight of 6 horses, 3 wagons and 9000 pounds of freight. It is significant for its outstanding Engineering Accomplishment and for its Historic role as a vital transportation and commercial link connecting Southeastern Utah with Colorado and other points east. In the early decades of the twentieth century, Moab and other Southeastern Utah towns were dependent on communities in Western Colorado for everyday supplies, and markets for their agricultural products. This Bridge, which spans the formidable natural barrier of the Colorado River, was the first to provide a direct connection. Dewey Bridge is Utah's longest suspension bridge, and at the time of its construction, was the second longest suspension bridge west of the Mississippi. It is also the State's longest clear span bridge. This property has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Dewey Bridge — steps away
  All that remains of Utah's longest suspension bridge — bare towers and cables over the Colorado River
• Fisher Towers — 5.9 mi
  Towering dark red pinnacles rising 900 feet from the desert floor
• Onion Creek — 6.6 mi
  A scenic backroad that fords the same creek more than two dozen times beneath the spires of Fisher Towers
• Cisco — 11 mi
  A railroad-and-oil ghost town at the east end of UT-128, later a backdrop for "Thelma & Louise"

More markers nearby

• Wolfe Ranch — 13 mi
• Pinhook Draw Massacre — 17 mi
• Elk Mountain Mission — 21 mi
• Early LDS Church — 21 mi