Monroe Street Bridge (Spokane, Washington)

Monroe Street Bridge
View from southwest in 2007
Coordinates47°39′38″N 117°25′36″W / 47.6605°N 117.4267°W / 47.6605; -117.4267
CrossesSpokane River
LocaleSpokane, Washington, U.S.
Named forMonroe Street
Characteristics
DesignDecked-arch bridge
MaterialReinforced concrete
Total length896 ft (273 m)
Width50 ft (15 m) roadway with
  9 ft (2.7 m) sidewalks
Height136 ft (41.5 m)
Longest span281 ft (85.6 m)
History
Construction cost$500,000 (1911)
$18 million
(2003–2005 restoration)[1]
OpenedNovember 23, 1911[2][3]
Rebuilt2003–2005[1][4]
Statistics
Monroe Street Bridge
Built1911
ArchitectCutter & Malmgren
MPSHistoric Bridges/Tunnels in Washington State TR (AD)
NRHP reference No.76001920
Added to NRHPMay 13, 1976
Location
Map

The Monroe Street Bridge is a deck arch bridge in the northwestern United States that spans the Spokane River in Spokane, Washington. It was built 113 years ago in 1911 by the city of Spokane,[1] and was designed by city engineer John Chester Ralston, assisted in construction supervision by Morton Macartney (and by assistant engineers J. F. Greene and P.F. Kennedy) with ornamentation provided by the firm of Kirtland Kelsey Cutter and Karl G. Malmgren as part of Cutter & Malmgren.[5][6]

At completion, it was the largest concrete arch bridge in the U.S. and the third longest in the world.[1] After more than ninety years of service, it was closed in January 2003 for restoration and reopened in September 2005.[1]

  1. ^ a b c d e Cannata, Amy (September 17, 2005). "Bridging generations". Spokesman-Review. p. O1.
  2. ^ "New Monroe Street Bridge ready for dedication". Spokesman-Review. November 22, 1911. p. 6.
  3. ^ "Bottle broken on kiosk; bridge is really "open"". Spokane Daily Chronicle. November 23, 1911. p. 1.
  4. ^ Lawrence-Turner, Jody (September 18, 2005). "Bridge Bash". Spokesman-Review. p. A1.
  5. ^ United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination Form https://npgallery.nps.gov/pdfhost/docs/NRHP/Text/76001920.pdf
  6. ^ Arksey, Laura (2006). "Spokane's third Monroe Street Bridge, the historic concrete-arch bridge, opens on November 23, 1911". HistoryLink. Retrieved February 15, 2015.