Three 1936 Bridges

All three of the bridges are of the Steel stringer style. The bridges were part of the New Deal recovery program from the Great Depression and have Works Progress Administration (WPA) project numbers. Bridge #1757 spans the Arroyo de las Palomas. These three Steel Stringer bridges are east of town on old Route 66, now the the north frontage road between I-40, exits 321 - 311.

The middle bridge is number 1758, shown above. This bridge has the same total length of 81 feet as the other two, but at 39 feet a shorter main span. The deck width is 24 feet.

All three bridges originally had identifying plates embedded in the concrete posts on the west ends.

The 1936 construction date as well as the original 15 ton safe load limit is stated one plate on each bridge. The F.A.P. stands for Federal Aid Project.

The other plate carried the Bridge number.

This is bridge number 1759, the east most of the three bridges. This bridge also has a total length of 81 feet and longest span of 40 feet, but the deck is a couple inches more than 24 feet wide.

Going east this is as far as may be advisable in rain or after recent rains because the road may flood farther east. I wouldn't go farther in any kind of snow.

Here's the date plate for bridge 1759, the farthest east of the three. These three bridges and roadway was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 - #93001208

Photo(s): 2015