Benton City – Kiona Bridge

The Benton City-Kiona Bridge is a steel box girder bridge with cable-stayed design that crosses the Yakima River. It carries two lanes of Washington State Route 225 and features raised sidewalks on both sides of the roadway.

The bridge opened in 1957 and replaced two earlier structures that had connected the two towns since 1901. The previous crossing stood further downstream on the Yakima River.

The Washington Heritage Register included this structure in 2002, recognizing its engineering design as the first steel box girder bridge in the United States.

The bridge has sidewalks on both sides that are clearly separated from traffic and easy to walk. You can reach it conveniently from Interstate 82 and U.S. Route 12.

The design came from engineer Homer M. Hadley and was a groundbreaking example of bridge engineering at the time. This early use of steel box girders made it a notable milestone in American infrastructure development.

Location: Washington

GPS coordinates: 46.25290,-119.47500

Latest update: December 14, 2025 14:40