Little Colorado River Bridge

Six hundred feet west of this marker once stood a steel truss bridge that did quiet, essential work for sixty years. The Arizona Highway Department designed it, and from 1928 to 1988 it carried traffic across the Little Colorado, stitching Holbrook's north and south halves together and tying the Colorado Plateau to the center of the state. It never needed major repair, which is its own kind of monument. When engineers finally replaced it, the old span had outlasted the highway era that raised it and most of the cars that crossed.

What the plaque says

Six hundred feet to the west of this location stood the original Little Colorado River Bridge. This steel truss bridge designed by the Arizona Highway Department stood at that location for 1928 to 1988. This landmark structure remained intact and functioned without major repairs throughout it's life. This bridge was a link between north and south Holbrook, and tied the southern and central parts of Arizona to the Colorado Plateau.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Holbrook — 0.7 mi
  A Santa Fe railroad town once too tough for women and churches, now the seat of Navajo County, gateway to the Petrified Forest, and home to the concrete teepees of the Wigwam Motel.
• Petrified Forest National Park — 26 mi
  Two hundred million years turned to stone — and a Route 66 ghost

More markers nearby

• Navajo County Courthouse — 0.6 mi
• Wigwam Village #6 — 0.8 mi
• Henry R. Holbrook — 0.8 mi
• The Old Fort — 10 mi