The Bridges of Gila River

Gillespie Dam and Bridge

I started this to be like "The Bridges of Madison County". I sorta look like Clint Eastwood in my mind-but the part played by Meryl Streep is unfilled. Apply in the comments. And instead of a battered Chev pickup you'll have to ride on a Honda Goldwing. Much better.

Gillespie Bridge. It really is sort of historic in this part of the world. This structure was built in 1925-1927 after a couple of failed attempts to cross the Gila River at this site.

By the time the bridge was built Arizona had agreed to constructing their portion of the 'Ocean to Ocean Highway' which ran from Georgia to San Diego. It's almost hard to believe that until the early 1920s the only way to get to San Diego or Los Angeles was to cross the Colorado at Lee's Ferry, near 300 miles from Yuma. That highway is part of another story about another bridge.

The remains of Gillespie Dam. This is just upstream from the bridge. It was built in 1921 by a local rancher (cleverly named Gillespie) for an irrigation project. The original bridge was simply an apron poured on this side of the bridge for cars to cross which was often closed by excessive water flow.

So the state built a concrete and timber bridge at the site where the current bridge stands. It washed out 3 times in 4 years. Prison labor was used to construct it and for the reconstructions. This was back in the days when the Gila was still a real river, before the Central Arizona Irrigation Project diverted the entire flow to agricultural use.

Enter the Topeka Iron Works. They worked with the State of Arizona to design and build a bridge that would survive the floods of the Gila. It's a bit over 1000 feet (330m) from end to end and water flows had been measured at over 200,000 cfm (cubic feet per minute) when the dam failed and over 180,000 cfm at other times.

There is just a trickle left of the Gila, it's all agricultural run off. Once upon a time the Gila was the largest tributary of the Colorado and a fairly ferocious river in it's own right. Not today. Those pickups would be underwater.

Today this is a bucolic bridge that carries a bucolic highway that used to be something special. There's a nice little park and interpretative center here to commemorate what used to be. It's nice if you don't mind a little graffiti-it really is remote.

Gillespie Bridge and Gillespie Dam. Cue the music and send in Meryl.

All words and photos in this post are mine. For better or worse.