Whispering Pines Bridge, Spanning East Verde River at Forest Service Control Road, Payson, Gila County, AZ

Significance: It is noteworthy as one of the last remaining spans from the San Carlos Bridge, a large-scale wagon truss built over the Gila River by the Office of Indian Affairs. Completed in 1913, it is technologically significant as the earliest documented example in Arizona of a mainstay structural type: the riveted Pratt through truss. It is historically important as one of the earliest multiple-span wagon bridges erected in Arizona by the Federal government. It is also infamous for its failure. Washed out a year before its completion, it stood abandoned for some six years before it was repaired and reopened. After that, the structure then carried traffic for only 14 years before it was replaced entirely and the individual spans distributed around the state.

Survey number: HAER AZ-48

Building/structure dates: 1913 Initial Construction

Building/structure dates: 1939 Subsequent Work

bridges payson pines bridge pines bridge verde east verde river forest control forest service control road gila gila county arizona historic american engineering record photo ultra high resolution high resolution infrastructure library of congress forest service

1969 - 1980

Library of Congress

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