Devil's Slide Trestles

Photo

Devil's Slide - east trestle

Winston Walker

BH Photo #295618

Map

Description

Pair of trestles on the historic Moffat Road, just east of Rollins Pass. Bypassed by the Moffat Tunnel in 1928; the rails were removed in 1935. The trestles were reopened as part of a road from 1955-1979. They have not been open to cars or pedestrians since 1979, though the trestles still carry an active natural gas pipeline.

Listed as a "Covered Railroad Bridge" because these trestles were covered by snowsheds during their use as an active railroad line.

These trestles are a notable engineering achievement for crossing extremely difficult rockslide terrain.

Facts

Overview: Timber stringer bridge over Devil's Slide on Denver and Salt Lake Railway
Location: Boulder County, Colorado
Status: Closed to all traffic, but still carries a natural gas pipeline
History: Built 1903-05; bypassed 1928; tracks removed 1935; reopened as a road 1955-1979.
Railroads: - Denver & Salt Lake Railway (D&SL)
- Denver, Northwestern & Pacific Railway (DNW&P)
- Rail-to-road
Design: Two timber stringer trestles
Recognition: Listed as a contributing resource to the Denver, Northwestern and Pacific Railway Historic District
Approximate latitude, longitude: +39.94008, -105.66976 (decimal degrees)
39°56'24" N, 105°40'11" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 13/442779/4421321 (zone/easting/northing)
Elevation: 11551 ft. above sea level
Inventory number: BH 63121 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

September 24, 2014: Added by Roger Deschner

Related Bridges

Riflesight Notch Loop (Same project)
Needle's Eye Tunnel (Same project)

Sources

Roger Deschner - rogerdeschner [at] gmail [dot] com