Dewey Bridge

1-19 Pictures

Dewey Bridge

The Dewey Bridge was consumed by fire on April 8 2008. The GJ Centinel has a slide show.

The Dewey Bridge was built in 1916. It spans the Colorado River in Eastern Utah. At the time of its construction, the bridge was the 2nd largest suspension bridge West of the Mississippi River. It remains the longest suspension bridge in Utah (okay, well, maybe there aren't that many suspension bridges in Utah).

This single track bridge is both an important and interesting landmark on Highway 128 between Moab and Grand Junction. If you are sight seeing in the area, you should plan taking the time to stop and investigate the bridge.

The Bridge is at a geographically interesting area. It is where the Colorado River breaks through the Navajo Sandstone layer thrust up by the Dome Plateau and the La Sal Mountains. The area has some very intersting Navajo Sandstone Formation and is a fun place for a walk or a bicycle ride.

The Dewey Bridge is the name sake for the Dewey Bridge Member of the Entrada Formation. The Dewey Bridge Sandstone is the lower part of Entrada Formation. Dewey Bridge sandstone is course. It does not sit well on Navajo Sandstone. It will often be washed off the Navajo Sandstone, thus helping create the distintive Navajo Sandstone formations that you find throughout the Colorado Plateau.

The other two members of the Entrada Formation are called Slickrock and the Moab Tongue. This upper two formations have a little bit more integrity than the Dewey Bridge Formation. So, you will often see Buttes and Towers created as the Dewey Bridge formation is eroded away ... leaving blocks of Slick Rock and Moab Tongue. The picture below of the Monitor and Merrimac show a common erosion pattern. The cliffs of these buttes are Slickrock and Moab Tongue. The Dewey Bridge Formation is being eroded away. It is the slopes at the bottom of the Buttes.

The white sandstone surrounding the buttes is the famous Navajo Sandstone. The washing away of the Dewey Bridge Formation is important in creating the towers and in exposing the Navajo Sandstone.

The Entrada Formation sits on top of the Navajo Standstone Monitor and Merrimac

Sea Eagle 330 -- The Go Anywhere Kayak For 2

Context: Con/Destruction