Hansen Bridge

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Hansen Bridge
Coordinates	42°33′59″N 114°17′59″W / 42.5664°N 114.2998°W / 42.5664; -114.2998
Carries	Idaho State Highway 50
Crosses	Snake River
Locale	Near Twin Falls, Idaho
Characteristics
Material	Concrete and steel[1]
Total length	762 ft (232 m)[1]
Width	27.9 ft (8.5 m)[1]
Height	350 ft (110 m)[2]
Longest span	258 ft (79 m)[2]
No. of spans	3
History
Construction end	1966
Statistics
Daily traffic	9,000[1]
Location

The Hansen Bridge is a 350-foot (110 m) high concrete deck girder bridge that carries Idaho State Highway 50 over the Snake River Canyon near Twin Falls, Idaho. The bridge spans the border of Jerome and Twin Falls Counties.

The original bridge constructed at this location was a steel suspension bridge 325 feet (99 m) high, with a wooden deck just 14 feet (4.3 m) wide. It was constructed by Midland Bridge Co. of Kansas City and the chief engineer was R.M. Murray.^[3] Completed in 1919 at a cost of $100,000, it was the first bridge to span the Snake River Canyon in southern Idaho, and provided a needed connection between the two halves of the Magic Valley region once split by the canyon. Because the 1919 Hansen bridge was capable only of supporting light wagon traffic, the Perrine Bridge was opened in 1927 at a location several miles farther west. The Hansen Bridge is located just north of, and is named after, the town of Hansen in Twin Falls County.^[4]

The current bridge was constructed in 1966 to replace the aging original structure, which was subsequently demolished.^[5] The new bridge is also known as the Veterans Memorial Bridge.^[1]