Chevelon Creek Bridge, Road bridge in Navajo County, Arizona, United States
Chevelon Creek Bridge is a steel truss bridge in Navajo County that spans a deep canyon with original riveted construction. The structure measures about 102 feet long and rises approximately 90 feet above the creek's water level.
Navajo County contracted the Missouri Valley Bridge & Iron Co. of Leavenworth, Kansas, on October 2, 1912, to carry the Santa Fe Highway over Chevelon Creek's 100-foot-deep canyon. Concrete for the abutments was poured in late 1912, the steel shipped December 30, the truss design approved in January 1913, and the bridge accepted in July at a cost of $4,985. It was Arizona's first truss bridge and the first built in the state by a nationally important bridge firm.
The road over the bridge is now McLaws Road, a Navajo County highway; the bridge carried a ten-ton weight rating and an unpaved county road when it was nominated to the National Register in 1983. The crossing linked Holbrook, the county seat, with Winslow, both Santa Fe Railroad stops whose trade rested on agriculture and livestock.
The bridge is located roughly 12 miles southeast of Winslow and is accessible by local roads through a rural area. Visitors should be prepared for remote terrain and variable weather conditions typical of northern Arizona's high elevation.
The 2013–2014 restoration stripped lead paint by wrapping the whole truss in plastic and blasting it with crushed walnut shells from a temporary aluminium platform hung beneath the bridge. The deck was replaced completely and the concrete abutments and structural steel repaired; the county paid 5.7% of the cost, the state 94.3%.
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