Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge

Built in a remote location with incredibly difficult access through rugged terrain, the Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge was made of components that could be carried down into the Grand Canyon by man or mule. At the time of its construction, it was the only crossing of the Colorado River in a distance of 754 miles from Moab, Utah to Needles, California.

Situated within one of the seven natural wonders of the world, the Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge across the Colorado River in the Grand Canyon is a noteworthy civil engineering achievement. Constructed in a remote and extremely rugged environment in 1928, the bridge represents an innovative design to meet its intended use, to overcome shortcomings in the design of a predecessor bridge, and to be compatible with limitations on delivery of materials. It also represents the influence of civil engineering in the development of National Parks in the early, formative years of the National Park Service.

At the time of its completion in 1928, the Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge was the only crossing of the Colorado River in a distance of 754 miles from Moab, Utah to Needles, California. Because the Colorado River and its canyons are a formidable barrier to travel in the Colorado Plateau and the desert southwest, the Kaibab Trail Suspension bridge continues to be one of few Colorado River crossings in this region. With the exception of a suspension bridge only one-half mile downstream (built in the 1960's to carry a water pipeline), the Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge is currently the only physical crossing of the Colorado River in a distance of 340 miles, between Navajo Bridge upstream and Hoover Dam downstream. Both of those features are also National Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks.

To construct the Kaibab Trail Suspension Bridge, all materials and supplies had to be hand carried or transported by mules along seven miles of the tortuous South Kaibab Trail, which descends 4,700 feet below the canyon rim and has dozens of switchbacks. Designed to carry both pack animals and foot traffic, the bridge provides a five foot wide pathway across the river and is stabilized by four 550-foot long suspension cables and two wind cables positioned at a 26-degree angle downward of the bridge deck. The bridge remains in service today, unmodified from its original 1928 construction, and continues to serve mule riding tourists, pack trains hauling supplies to Phantom Ranch, hikers, backpackers, and National Park Service and concessionaire employees.