At 1,053 feet above the Arkansas River, the Royal Gorge Bridge was completed in only six months with no fatalities. In 1907, the federal government deeded Royal Gorge to the town of Canon City, Colorado for use as a municipal park. To enhance the appeal as a tourist attraction, a bridge was needed to cross the gorge. So, in 1929, Lon Piper undertook the construction of a one-lane toll bridge. Piper designed a bridge 1,260 feet long and 18 feet wide. The bridge is suspended from two 200-ton cables. Each cable has 2,100 strands of No. 9 galvanized wire in it. The floor of the bridge contains 1,000 tons of steel and almost 1,300 wooden planks. It took only $350,000 to build the Royal Gorge Bridge. To replace it today, it would cost over $10 million.

Information on the Royal Gorge Bridge