Post Street Bridge - Spokane, WA
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T0SHEA
N 47° 39.716 W 117° 25.412
11T E 468200 N 5278813
The Post Street Bridge was the last of the concrete bridges to have been built over the Spokane River in Spokane.
Waymark Code: WMJJCV
Location: Washington, United States
Date Posted: 11/24/2013
Views: 2
Having only a ferry to cross the swift flowing Spokane River, the citizens of Spokane Falls(as it was then known) raised the cash to build a wooden bridge in 1881, at a cost of $5577,50. By 1888 a total of six wooden bridges spanned the river between Monroe and Division Streets. They all proved inadequate, as most were washed out by high water at one time or another. Beginning in 1889 replacements were built of steel, but they, too, proved not to be able to withstand the mighty river at its peak. In 1884 alone the city lost three of its steel bridges to flooding.
Beginning in 1907 the city embarked on its "Golden Era of Bridge Building", a decade long project that began with construction of the concrete arch span bridge at Washington. It was followed by seven more of the same type and construction, the project culminating with this, the Post Street Bridge, in 1917. The total cost for the eight bridges was $1.7 million. Money well spent, it turns out, as only in recent years have any been replaced, all of them having withstood floods under which their predecessors would have ultimately floated down the river. All were built from designs issuing from the office of the City Engineer, in the person of J.C.Ralston.
This, the final bridge of the series is a shallow arch concrete span bridge of about 400 feet in length. It is between the upper and lower falls, adjacent to the original old powerhouse on the lower falls.
