Vance Creek Bridge

Vance Creek Bridge
Vance Creek Bridge
Coordinates 47°20′04.7″N 123°19′18.2″W / 47.334639°N 123.321722°W / 47.334639; -123.321722Coordinates: 47°20′04.7″N 123°19′18.2″W / 47.334639°N 123.321722°W / 47.334639; -123.321722
Crosses Vance Creek
Locale Mason County, Washington
Other name(s) Vance Creek Viaduct
Owner Simpson Logging Company
Characteristics
Material Steel
Total length 827 feet (252 m)
Height 347 feet (106 m)
Longest span 422 feet (129 m)
History
Architect American Bridge Company
Construction start 1928
Opened 1929
Closed

2017

Vance Creek Bridge
Nearest city Shelton, Washington
Coordinates 47°20′04.7″N 123°19′18.2″W / 47.334639°N 123.321722°W / 47.334639; -123.321722
Built 1928–1929
Architect American Bridge Company
Architectural style steel arch
NRHP reference # 82004266[1]
Added to NRHP July 16, 1982
Decommissioned railroad bridge over Vance Creek, WA.

The Vance Creek Bridge is an arch bridge in the Satsop Hills of Mason County, Washington that was built for a logging railroad owned by the Simpson Logging Company in 1929. At 347 feet (106 m) in height, it is the second-highest railroad arch in the United States after the nearby High Steel Bridge.[2] It was decommissioned in the 1970s, during the decline of logging on the Olympic Peninsula.[3]

The bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982 and to the Mason County Historic Preservation Register in 2008.[1][4]

The bridge gained popularity in the early 2010s as an attraction for photographers and thrill-seekers, due to its isolation and "unsafe" features. While the bridge was never opened to the public, property owners Green Diamond Resource Company added new barriers and surveillance to prevent further trespassing in 2014, due to the emergence of graffiti and arson at the site, as well as the risk of a lawsuit.[3] The company approached the Washington State Parks department on opening the bridge to the public as a tourist attraction, but negotiations fell through due to a lack of funding and suitable insurance. In 2017, the company began removal of the approach structure's wooden deck and railroad ties.[5][6]

References

  1. 1 2 National Park Service (July 9, 2010). "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  2. ↑ Soderberg, Lisa (January 7, 1976) [August 1980]. HAER Inventory: Vance Creek Bridge. Historic American Engineering Record (Report). National Park Service. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  3. 1 2 Sears, Kelton (August 18, 2014). "Instagram Favorite, 347-Foot-Tall #ThatNWBridge, Officially Closes to the Public". Seattle Weekly. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  4. ↑ "The Mason County Historic Preservation Register". Mason County.
  5. ↑ Geerkens, Joy (August 2, 2017). "On the Vance Creek Bridge demolition". The Daily of the University of Washington. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  6. ↑ "Vance Creek Viaduct". Atlas Obscura. 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.


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