Hansen Bridge

When the 1919 bridge opened, it was the highest in North America, its deck almost 400 feet over the river, and for the first time the two halves of the Magic Valley were joined above the canyon. Its construction engineer, R. M. Murray, went straight on to plan the next crossing, the Twin Falls-Jerome bridge of 1927. The 1966 replacement, officially the Veterans Memorial Bridge, stands on two piers 338 feet tall, among the highest ever built in the United States. The old bridge's remains are displayed at the pullout.

What the plaque says

Hansen Bridge Until 1919, when a high suspension bridge was completed here, this 16-mile long river gorge could be crossed only in a rowboat. With 14 cables, each more than 900 feet long, a $100,000 suspension bridge was wide enough to accomodate two lanes of farm wagons or early cars that had begun to gain popularity then. From it's deck, nearly 400 feet above Snake River, travelers had a spectacular view that still can be seen from it's replacement, built in 1966. 393

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Shoshone Falls — 5.5 mi
  Higher than Niagara, and turned up and down on a schedule. What reaches the rim is whatever the canals leave.
• Perrine Bridge — 8.1 mi
  Four hundred and eighty-six feet of air between deck and river, and the one span in the country you may jump from without asking.
• Minidoka National Historic Site — 8.4 mi
  The prisoners built a board for the names of their sons in the Army. When the camp was given away as farms, the board was lost.

More markers nearby

• Caldron Linn — 6.6 mi
• Hunt — 6.7 mi
• Prehistoric Hunters — 6.7 mi
• College of Southern Idaho — 8.2 mi