Royal Gorge, Colorado
Steven Dutch, Professor Emeritus, Natural and Applied Sciences, Universityof Wisconsin - Green Bay
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Driving to the bridge is puzzling because the road seems to be a minor back road that doesn't go anywhere. Getting to the bridge, you discover the road really is a minor back road that doesn't go anywhere, except to the bridge. The bridge was built specifically as a tourist attraction. |
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Mountain scenery west of the bridge. |
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View looking northeast. This is obviously a case of rejuvenation, where a flat landscape is uplifted and the river begins cutting a deep gorge. |
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View of the bridge, looking north. The bridge is built just where the gorge begins to widen and has the greatest depth-to-width ratio. The inner gorge is narrower than it is deep but at bridge level the depth and width of the gorge are about equal. |
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The gorge is cut into Proterozoic metamorphic rocks. In addition to the bridge, a cable car crosses the gorge. |
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You can drive across the bridge but foot traffic generally outnumbers vehicle traffic. |
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Duh. (Unlike many stupid regulatory signs, this one is deliberately meant to be a joke.) |
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Above: views of the cable anchors. Left: Close-up of the suspension cables. All suspension bridges are built this way, one cable strand at a time, but most are wrapped so the strands aren't visible. |
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The roadway is planking, and my wife's favorite kind of bridge ;) one with openings between the planks. This view looks straight down to the Arkansas River through a gap in the planks. |
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The gorge actually has gentle enough gradients and curves to make a good railway route and a railway up the gorge predates the bridge. |
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Created 15 January 2005, Last Update 06 June 2020