The Old Trails Bridge is a historic bridge over the

Colorado River The Colorado River () is one of the principal rivers (along with the Rio Grande) in the Southwestern United States and in northern Mexico. The river, the List of longest rivers of the United States (by main stem), 5th longest in the United St ...

San Bernardino County San Bernardino County ( ), officially the County of San Bernardino and sometimes abbreviated as S.B. County, is a county located in the southern portion of the U.S. state of California, and is located within the Inland Empire area. As of th ...

and

Mohave County Mohave County occupies the northwestern corner of the U.S. state of Arizona, one of 15 counties in the state. As of the 2020 census, its population was 213,267. The county seat is Kingman, and the largest city is Lake Havasu City. It is th ...

in the United States, that is listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

(NRHP). It has also been known as Topock Bridge and as Needles Bridge.

Description and history

ARIZONA-B-0005 Colorado River - Trails Arch Bridge or Topock Bridge

The bridge carried a now-abandoned section of the former

U.S. Route 66 U.S. Route 66 or U.S. Highway 66 (US 66 or Route 66) is one of the original highways in the United States Numbered Highway System. It was established on November 11, 1926, with road signs erected the following year. The high ...

across from southeast of Needles, California to south of Topock, Arizona. It is a brace-ribbed

through arch A through arch bridge, also known as a through-type arch bridge, is a bridge that is made from materials such as steel or reinforced concrete, in which the base of an arch structure is below the deck but the top rises above it. It can either be lo ...

bridge that was built in 1915–1916. It served as a highway bridge until 1947 when the

Red Rock Bridge The Red Rock Bridge was a bridge across the Colorado River at Topock, Arizona, Topock, Arizona that carried the Atlantic & Pacific Railroad. It was built in 1890, replacing a wooden bridge dating to 1883 that was repeatedly washed out during sp ...

, formerly a railroad bridge, was modified for highway use. The Old Trails Bridge was later converted to a

pipeline bridge A pipeline bridge is a bridge for running a pipeline over a river or another obstacle. Pipeline bridges for liquids and gases are, as a rule, only built when it is not possible to run the pipeline on a conventional bridge or under the river. Howev ...

. It was listed on the NRHP on September 30, 1988. and The bridge has been seen in a number of blockbuster films including ''

The Grapes of Wrath ''The Grapes of Wrath'' is an American realist novel written by John Steinbeck and published in 1939. The book won the National Book Award and Pulitzer Prize for fiction, and it was cited prominently when Steinbeck was awarded the Nobel Prize ...

'' and ''

Easy Rider ''Easy Rider'' is a 1969 American road drama film written by Peter Fonda, Dennis Hopper, and Terry Southern. It was produced by Fonda and directed by Hopper. Fonda and Hopper play two bikers who travel through the American Southwest and the S ...

''.

References

External links

Photo at Flickr
in higher resolution Bridges over the Colorado River Steel bridges in the United States Through arch bridges in the United States Bridges completed in 1916 Bridges on U.S. Route 66 Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Arizona Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in California Buildings and structures in Mohave County, Arizona Transportation in Mohave County, Arizona Transportation buildings and structures in San Bernardino County, California National Register of Historic Places in Mohave County, Arizona National Register of Historic Places in San Bernardino County, California {{California-bridge-struct-stub

Description and history

See also

References

External links