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Muddy Fork Cowlitz River Bridge

Lewis County, Washington

Photos 

South Elevation Facing North From Inside Box Canyon

Photo taken by Jet Lowe for the Historic American Engineering Record

View photos at Library of Congress

BH Photo #310362

Map 

Street View 

Description 

The "rustic style" of architecture survived into the 1950s when the Muddy Fork Cowlitz River and Nickel Creek bridges on the Stevens Canyon Highway were constructed as stone-faced reinforced concrete spandrel arch structures, echoing designs employed by the National Park Service as early as 1920. The Muddy Fork Bridge, built over the deep Box Canyon of the Cowlitz, relates especially well to the site; the gently arched bridge seems to spring naturally from the rock cliffs. The nearby tunnel (HAER No. WA-70) is a plain bore through a mountain spur; unlike other tunnels in the park, it has no masonry portals at the ends. The entire site was planned to offer access to the marvelous landscape of this site, with the deep box canyon, stretches of glacial-polished granite, and delicate subalpine plants. Site amenities include a parking area, comfort station and drinking fountains, paved pedestrian paths, an interpretive display, and a timber footbridge over the canyon. The Box Canyon site also serves as a trailhead for the round-the-mountain Wonderland Trail.

-- Historic American Engineering Record

Facts 

Overview
Concrete arch bridge over Muddy Fork Cowlitz River on Stevens Canyon Road
Location
Lewis County, Washington
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1952
Builder
- Hawkins and Armstrong of Seattle, Washington
Design
Arch
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 79.1 ft.
Total length: 100.1 ft.
Deck width: 27.9 ft.
Also called
Stevens Canyon Road Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude
+46.76558, -121.63578   (decimal degrees)
46°45'56" N, 121°38'09" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/604167/5180018 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Mount Rainier East
Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
1,500
Inventory number
BH 34398 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of August 2018)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 42.8 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Arch (12,148)
Built 1952 (334)
Built during 1950s (3,858)
Deck arch (11,386)
HAER documented (1,107)
Have street view (27,057)
Hawkins and Armstrong (2)
Lewis County, Washington (61)
 Mt. Rainier National Park (16)
Open (39,969)
Owned by National Park Service (467)
Owned by federal government (1,227)
Span length 75-100 feet (6,453)
Total length 100-125 feet (5,188)
Washington (1,314)

Update Log 

  • December 26, 2014: HAER photos posted by Dave King
  • March 24, 2014: New Street View added by Craig Philpott
  • March 19, 2012: Updated by Craig Philpott: Corrected Location

Sources 

  • Craig Philpott - craigphilpott63 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • HAER WA-60 - Muddy Fork Cowlitz River Bridge, Spanning Muddy Fork Cowlitz River on Stevens Canyon Highway, Ashford, Pierce County, WA

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