Royal Gorge Bridge Rafting Vacation

The Royal Gorge has long been famous as one of the most spectacular scenic attractions in the West. Geologically, the Royal Gorge is one of nature's rugged masterpieces. Geologists have estimated that the erosive forces of nature have been at work in the gorge for three million years. Currently, the force of water and sand are digging the chasm deeper at the rate of two inches each thousand years so there has not been much change in the depth of the canyon since it was measured in 1929.

In 1907 the federal government deeded Royal Gorge to the town of Cañon City, Colorado for use as a municipal park. To enhance the appeal as a tourist attraction, a bridge was needed to cross the gorge. Until the famous suspension bridge was completed in 1929, most visitors viewed the Royal Gorge from the bottom of the canyon as passengers of the Denver and Rio Grande Railroad (D&RGRR). With the popularity of the automobile, more and more visitors began to vacation in Colorado and more and more came to visit the Royal Gorge and to view the picturesque canyon from the vantage point of the "World's Highest Suspension Bridge".

The bridge itself ranks as one of the world's outstanding suspension bridges. It is unique in that it is the highest in the world, bridging the Arkansas River over 1,000 feet below. Other bridges have far greater spans and lengths but none offer the breathless panorama afforded by the Royal Gorge structure.

Actual construction of the suspension bridge across the Royal Gorge began June 5, 1929. During the spring of that year, a great deal of preliminary work that was necessary for the job was begun. An access road to the south rim, financed by the company, was built by a Fremont County road crew. Rock crushing machinery, steam hoists and construction materials were moved to the north and south rim construction sites where George Elmore Cole had located the tower sites for the Bridge. Cole had built several bridges in south Texas and had been retained by Lon P. Piper, president of the Royal Gorge Bridge & Amusement Company, to construct the Royal Gorge structure.

The initial part of the project was building the concrete abutments, which would serve as bases for the steel towers supporting the main suspension cables. Crushed rock for these structures was produced on site from granite excavated from trenches in the canyon rim where suspension cables would later be anchored. With the completion of the concrete bases, the fabrication of the steel towers proceeded. Steel in the towers, bridge deck and railing was all manufactured and fabricated at the plant of Colorado Fuel and Iron (CF&I) Corporation in Pueblo, Colorado, only about 45 miles from the job location. All the steel wire was also drawn in CF&I's wire mill and was one of the largest wire orders ever filled by the Colorado plant.

Upon completion of the tower construction, half inch steel cables were lowered from either side of the canyon, the ends spliced and the cable pulled back up to the top. With this as a carry cable, a pair of three-quarter inch steel cables was pulled across the gorge. These were used as trolley cables to pull the individual wires making up the main cables. Each of the 4200 wires (2100 in each cable) was taken across the canyon, one wire at a time. A three-quarter inch galvanized wire rope served as a core cable for the suspension cable and, like the individual wires, was anchored to a steel pin in the anchor trench in the rim. Each cable wire is anchored to a steel pin set in the solid granite of the chasm wall, and upon completion the entire trench was filled with reinforcing steel and concrete. (There are over 100 anchor pins at the end of each cable.)

With the cables completed, the work of clamping steel collars around the wire began and suspender rods were attached to support the steel girders, which serve as a floor for the bridge deck. A steel cage was fabricated to accommodate the workers during this phase of the construction. (This steel structure now serves as a bridge across the top of the side gorge that accommodates the Incline Railway.) Crews worked from both sides and completed this phase of the work in November of 1929. More than one thousand tons of structural steel was used in the fabrication of the bridge.

The final additions to the job were laying the wooden deck and fastening the ends of the nearly 1300 planks to the sides of the bridge. Protective side railings were bolted into place, the wire fencing fastened to the railing, and highway approaches made ready for the first vehicular traffic to cross the bridge. Of note is the fact that much of the Echo Canyon River Expeditions office is constructed of retried bridge planks. Our location was originally known as the Eight Mile General Store and the proprietor, Tommy Dixon, worked to replace bridge timbers when they were deemed in need of exchange. Mr. Dixon kept these massive timbers and incorporated them into our existing office!

Despite the fact that most of the labor was inexperienced, the unusual and daring construction feat was accomplished in only seven months without a single fatality and no major accidents. Gusty winds were the greatest threat to safety and the only factor that occasionally shut down or slowed the job. One of the workers recalls that there were some near misses, but that everyone was careful and they hung on tight when the wind blew.

It was not until after the bridge had been officially opened and dedicated that the stabilizing wind and guy cables were added to the structure. Without these, the bridge would not be able to withstand the occasionally gusty winds that roar down the canyon. Even so, on a windy day visitors will experience the same effect they would in pacing the deck of an ocean liner on a stormy day at sea.

The Royal Gorge Bridge, located just four miles from Echo Canyon River Expeditions, is plainly visible from the front porch of our main office. Plan to spend a few hours at the bridge, an engineering marvel, either before or after your whitewater rafting experience. For more information, click here to visit the official site of the Royal Gorge Bridge.

Continue reading more history about the Royal Gorge Railroad War between the Sante Fe Train and Denver & Rio Grande Western Railroad.