Crooked River Gorge Bridge, Dechutes/Jefferson County, OR - Railroad Bridges on Waymarking.com

The Crooked River Gorge Railroad Bridge was constructed in 1911. The bridge spans 460 feet, perched on its abutments 320 feet above the river. It is among the nation’s highest railway bridges. The bridge was designed by Ralph Modjeski, a noted civil engineer.

In the early 1900s, the railroad tycoons James J. Hill of the Spokane, Portland & Seattle Railway (SP&S) and Edward Harriman of the Union Pacific began a fierce battle for the rights to open central Oregon to rail traffic. Along the lower Deschutes River below Madras railroad grades were constructed on both sides of the river. In the field there were night raids, gunfights across the river, and dynamiting of facilities and neither railroad triumphed. The battle finally played out in the courts, where the SP&S triumphed and a single grade was extended south from Madras.

Bridge construction began at the Crooked River Gorge in November 1910, and the first work train crossed on September 17, 1911. In their haste to open the bridge and push toward Bend, workers installed only half of the bridge’s required rivets, the remaining rivets were installed over the following five weeks while trains crossed overhead.

Coordinates are along the gorge rim southwest of bridge. There are many good views of the bridge from the rim of the gorge within Peter Skene Ogden Scenic Wayside.

Bridge Type: Arch Bridge Usage: Railroad Moving Bridge: This bridge is static (has no moving pieces)

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Date Logged Log User Rating   06/21/2015 NW_history_buff visited it 08/12/2013 CharlyBaltimore visited it 09/21/2012 ddtfamily visited it 06/12/2012 3rd times the charm visited it 08/07/2006 Volcanoguy visited it

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