Otowi Suspension Bridge

Bridge

35°52′30″N 106°08′28″W / 35.875°N 106.141°W / 35.875; -106.141CharacteristicsDesignSuspension bridgeMaterialWoodHistoryOpened1924

U.S. National Register of Historic Places

U.S. Historic district
Contributing property

NM State Register of Cultural Properties

Otowi Suspension Bridge

Show map of New Mexico

Show map of the United States

Nearest citySan Ildefonso, New MexicoCoordinates35°52′29″N 106°8′29″W / 35.87472°N 106.14139°W / 35.87472; -106.14139Arealess than one acreBuilt1924 (1924)ArchitectLee W. CampbellArchitectural styleSuspension bridgePart ofOtowi Historic District (ID75001170)MPSHistoric Highway Bridges of New Mexico MPSNRHP reference No.97000730^[1]NMSRCP No.1670Significant datesAdded to NRHPJuly 15, 1997Designated CPDecember 4, 1975Designated NMSRCPMay 9, 1997 Location Map

The Otowi Suspension Bridge, spanning the Rio Grande River near San Ildefonso, New Mexico, is a wooden single-lane suspension bridge for road traffic, built in 1924. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.^[1]

In its 1996 NRHP nomination, it is asserted to be significant in the areas of transportation and engineering. It was important for having opened a large part of New Mexico to automobile traffic, including Bandelier National Monument, the Pajarito Plateau, the townsite of Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which became nationally important during World War II. It was also the only public highway suspension bridge in the state and was the best-rated bridge in the state in a 1987 survey.^[2]^[3]

The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic when a two-lane steel through truss bridge was opened in Spring 1948 just north of it. The steel bridge, with its 290-foot (88 m) length, was the longest road span in New Mexico at the time. ^[4] In turn, it has since been replaced^[when?] with a four-lane concrete deck bridge.

Now a pedestrian bridge, it was a contributing property in the listing of the Otowi Historic District to the National Register in 1975.^[5]

References

^ ^a ^b "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
^ David Rammer (1996). "Otowi Suspension Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved May 27, 2016. with three photos
^ David Kammer (1996). "Historic Highway Bridges of New Mexico". National Park Service. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
^ Lyon, F. and Evans,J., editors ‘’Los Alamos: The First Forty Years’’ (Extract from Los Alamos Times, March 19, 1948), Los Alamos Historical Society, 1984, ISBN 0-941232-06-9
^ Michael P . McCachren (July 2, 1975). "Otowi HIstoric District". National Park Service. Retrieved May 27, 2016. with six photos (including several of the suspension bridge)