Cochise Overpass, Spanning the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) at Milepost 62.88 of U.S. Highway 191 (U.S. 191), Cochise

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-105. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Spanning the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR) at Milepost of U.S. Highway 191 (U.S. Cochise vicinity, Cochise County, Arizona The approximate center of the Cochise Overpass is at latitude: longitude: as determined in July using Google Earth. The overpass is mapped on the Red Bird Hills, Arizona, U.S. Geological Survey 7.5-minute topographic quadrangle. The Cochise Overpass has no restriction on release of its location to the public. Present Owner/ Occupant: Arizona Department of Transportation (ADOT)

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-105. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

ADOT plans to replace the Cochise Overpass to accommodate oversize load vehicles. Because the FHWA will provide funding for the project, it is a federal undertaking that requires consideration of potential effects on properties listed in or eligible for listing in the National Register of Historic Places pursuant to Section 106 of the National Historic Preservation Act of as amended (Title 54, U.S. Code and its implementing regulations (Title 36, Code of Federal Regulations part The bridge was evaluated as ineligible for individual listing in the in However, ADOT and the Arizona State Historic Preservation Office (SHPO) subsequently concluded the overpass is eligible as a character-defining element of U.S.

which the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) and SHPO determined, by consensus, to be eligible for the as an element of the historic state highway system, under Criterion D for its potential to yield important information.2 ADOT, with FHWA authorization, determined replacement of the Cochise Overpass will result in an adverse effect to U.S. and the SHPO concurred. ADOT sponsored preparation of this Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation to mitigate the adverse effect. Heritage Documentation Programs (HABS/HAER/HALS) is a program of the National Park Service within 1 FRASERdesign, Bridges, Arizona Historic Bridge Inventory. Loveland, Colorado, 2 FHWA, ADOT, and SHPO, Interim Procedures for the Treatment of Historic Roads, COCHISE OVERPASS HAER AZ 105 (Page 2) the U.S.

Department of the Interior, which compiles and preserves documentation of historically significant buildings, engineering technologies, and landscapes. AECOM archaeologist, Thomas L. Carr, took the large-format photographs. Part I. Historical Information A. Physical History: 1. Date(s) of construction: 2. Architect/Engineer: Arizona Highway Department3 3. Builder/Contractor: Lee Moor Contracting Company, El Paso, Texas4 4. Original plans and construction: The Arizona Highway Department designed the Cochise Overpass as a three-span, steel I-beam stringer bridge with spill-through concrete abutments and wingwalls.

The bridge is long and the maximum span length is The structure is wide with a concrete bridge deck designed to accommodate a 24' wide road with a single steel guardrail on steel posts along each side. Fill material was placed to raise the highway to the height of the bridge, beginning approximately one-fourth mile to the northwest and southeast of the bridge. 5. Alterations and additions: ADOT replaced the original guardrails in with steel beam guardrails with concrete bulkheads.5 Between and ADOT removed the steel guardrails and reinforced and extended the concrete bulkheads with poured concrete to form retrofitted concrete barriers.6 B. Historical Context Arizona State Highway System and U.S.

191 The invention and subsequent widespread adoption of affordable motorized vehicles in the early twentieth century had a profound impact that continues to this day. The first automobiles arrived in the Arizona Territory in and the introduction of the mass-produced Ford Model T in spurred the obsolescence of animal powered transportation. By the end of the owning an automobile was virtually an essential part of normal life. The Arizona Territorial Engineer improved 243 miles of wagon roads to graveled highways prior to when there were slightly more than registered vehicles in the newly designated state of Arizona. The federal government began to invest in road building in with the passage of the Federal Aid Road Act.

By there were over vehicles 3 FRASERdesign, Bridges, 4 FRASERdesign, Bridges, 5 FRASERdesign, Bridges, 6 Google, Street View Imagery. COCHISE OVERPASS HAER AZ 105 (Page 3) registered in Arizona and the state road system increased to almost miles. By almost vehicles were registered in the state and there were almost miles of state roads.7 The region crossed by U.S. 191 was a travel corridor long before the adoption of motorized vehicles.

The Spanish explorer, Francisco V zquez de Coronado, reportedly traveled north from Mexico along this corridor in the early sixteenth century, and trail and wagon routes followed in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.8 By an improved road designated as State Route 81, connected Douglas at the U.S./Mexico border and the town of Cochise along the Southern Pacific Railroad At Cochise, the road connected to an unimproved east-west road between Benson (west of Cochise) and Willcox (east of Cochise), and then continued north from Willcox to Safford and east to New Mexico.9 At that time, the Arizona Highway Department referred to SR 81 between Douglas and Cochise and the unnumbered route between Cochise and Safford as the Douglas-Safford Highway.

In September Cochise County delegates asked the Arizona Highway Commission to designate the segment of the Douglas-Safford Highway between Cochise and a point 11 miles east of Willcox (where the road turned north to Safford) as a state highway.10 In April the Arizona Highway Commission awarded a contract to George W. Orr of El Paso, Texas, to construct the highway, which subsequently became a segment of SR 86, the primary road between Benson and Willcox.11 By the alignment of SR 81 between Douglas and Cochise mostly followed the present-day U.S. 191 alignment, and was collocated with SR 86 along the (currently operating as the UPRR) between Cochise and Willcox. By the Arizona Highway Department had paved approximately the southern half of SR 81 between Douglas and Cochise.

The northern segment to Cochise was not paved until In the mid-1930s the Arizona Highway Department issued several contracts to complete improvements to the Douglas-Safford Highway, including grading and draining the roadway, oiling with a road mix method, and reconstructing selected segments.13 At that time, the Arizona Highway Department also initiated planning for a bypass around the town of Cochise. The Cochise Overpass over the appears to have been the first step in the construction of the bypass route, as it was sited 1.5 miles northeast of the town. In SR 81 and the collocated segment of SR 86 were designated as part of U.S. Highway 666 (U.S.

In the SR 86 between Benson and Willcox was reconstructed north of its historic alignment to the present-day location of Interstate 10, bypassing the town of Cochise. At the same time, a segment of U.S. 666 south of the Cochise Overpass was realigned to access the overpass directly, and the highway was extended two miles north of the overpass to intersect the reconstructed SR The realignment of the highway to connect directly with the Cochise Overpass required construction of cross drainage structures, most of which were corrugated metal culverts, but also included two concrete box culverts. 7 Melissa Keane and J.

Simon Bruder, Good Roads Everywhere (URS, Phoenix, Arizona, Mark Pry and Fred Anderson, Arizona Transportation History (History Plus, Tempe, Arizona, Jeanette Rhoda, Automotive Transportation in Arizona (SHPO, Phoenix, Arizona, 8 Jeffrey L. Baker, A Beast of a Highway (EcoPlan Associates, Inc., Mesa, Arizona, 8. 9 Baker, A Beast of a Highway , 8. 10 Douglas Daily Dispatch, Hart Returns from Highway Meet Hopeful, September 10, 4. 11 Arizona Daily Star, Bridges and Road Contracts Awarded, April 3, 1. 12 Arizona Republic, Bids to be Called on Paving Project, March 4, 11.

13 Arizona Republic, Road Project Bids Received, 16 January, 6; Arizona Republic, Douglas Road to be Improved, February 28, 8; Arizona Daily Star, Road Oiling Bids are to be Opened, March 1, Arizona Republic, Douglas Road Bids Received, March 15, 5. 14 Baker, A Beast of a Highway , COCHISE OVERPASS HAER AZ 105 (Page 4) In the Arizona segment of U.S. 666 was redesignated as U.S.

The official explanation for the numbering change does not allude to the widespread belief that a primary motivation was to eliminate reference to which some considered the number of the beast and the vernacular name Devil s Highway that likely reflected the number of accidents along the mountain route of the highway between Clifton and Alpine north of Safford.15 Construction In March the Arizona Highway Department opened bids for the construction of the Cochise Overpass, and the contract was subsequently awarded to the Lee Moor Contracting Company of El Paso, Texas.16 The contractor initiated construction of the overpass in May using plans the Arizona Highway Department prepared.

Initial work included building a detour, sinking a well, erecting a tool house, and building forms for concrete work. 17 Steel I-Beam Stringer Bridges Steel stringer bridges are the most basic type of metal span bridges, composed of several parallel rows of relatively shallow, rolled I-beams placed longitudinally over piers and abutments with a continuous deck laid on top, which were regularly used by Arizona railroads in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. 18 Substructural support for these types of bridges included stone masonry or concrete abutments and timber or steel pile piers (bents). Stringer bridges could be constructed as single-span structures or easily lengthened by multiplying the number of spans.

Bridges of this type were typically constructed using standardized plans, eliminating the need for detailed engineering.19 Beginning in eastern rolling mills were able to produce deeper, rolled steel I-beams, making use of steel in bridge construction more affordable than concrete. This affordability, along with the flexibility in span length, span number, roadway width, and substructure configuration increased the popularity of steel I-beam stringer bridges.

The federal Bureau of Public Roads developed the first standard drawings for steel stringer bridges in The Arizona Highway Department constructed its first steel stringer bridge on the Apache Trail in but did not begin building bridges of this type on a regular basis until the During the Great Depression of the the Arizona Highway Department erected numerous steel stringer bridges, typically with short spans and concrete substructures. After World War II, the Arizona Highway Department constructed more steel stringer bridges with longer spans.20 Part II. Structural/Design Information A. General Statement 1.

Character: The Cochise Overpass exemplifies a typical three-span, steel I-beam stringer bridge, which the Arizona Highway Department used widely by the late The overpass is an example of a common structural type and has been altered since construction. 15 Baker, A Beast of a Highway , 16 Arizona Daily Star, Cochise Overpass Bids are Invited, March 19, 6; Arizona Republic, Board Lets Contracts for Overpass, Oiling, March 25, 6. 17 Tucson Citizen, Work on Cochise Overpass Starts, June 1, 4. 18 FRASERdesign, Bridges, 19 FRASERdesign, Bridges, 20 FRASERdesign, Bridges, COCHISE OVERPASS HAER AZ 105 (Page 5) 2. Condition of Fabric: An ADOT bridge inspection in reported delamination and spalling of concrete with exposed rebar on the piers and cracks in the bridge deck.

The protective coating on the girders was deteriorated, resulting in surface corrosion.21 B. Description The Cochise Overpass is a three-span, steel I-beam stringer bridge with concrete spill-through abutments and wingwalls. The bridge is long with a maximum span length of The structure is wide, accommodating a concrete two-lane bridge deck 24' wide. Four continuous steel girders are spaced on center, and the superstructure is supported by two three-column piers and abutments. The columns within the piers are square with crash walls between them.22 After retrofitted, poured concrete bridge barriers replaced non-historic guardrails installed in C. Site Information The topography of the area is flat, with elevations ranging from feet to feet above sea level.

The Cochise Overpass is at the western edge of the Sulphur Springs Valley, a closed basin that drains into Willcox Playa, which is less than mile east of the overpass. The Red Bird Hills and Little Dragoon Mountains are west of the overpass, and the unincorporated town of Cochise is approximately 1 miles to the southwest. Natural vegetation is a semi-desert grassland dominated by bunch grasses, and several succulents, including yucca, agave, sotol, and bear grass.23 Livestock grazing is the dominant land use in the vicinity of the bridge. Part III. Sources of Information A. Primary

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER AZ-105. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Arizona Daily Star. Bridges and Road Contracts Awarded. April 3, Road Oiling Bids Are to be Opened. March 1, Douglas Road Bids Received. March 15, Cochise Overpass Bids are Invited. March 19, Arizona Republic. Road Project Bids Received. January 16, Douglas Road to be Improved. February 28, Board Lets Contracts for Overpass, Oiling. March 25, Bids to be Called on Paving Project. March 4, Douglas Daily Dispatch. Hart Returns from Highway Meet Hopeful. September 10, Google. Streetview Imagery. Accessed June 12, https://maps.google.com. Tucson Citizen. Work on Cochise Overpass Starts. June 1, 21 AECOM, Final Bridge Selection Report (Phoenix, Arizona, 22 AECOM, Final Bridge Selection Report, 4; FRASERdesign, Section F, 23 David E.

Brown, Biotic Communities: Southwestern United States and Northwestern Mexico (University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, Utah, COCHISE OVERPASS HAER AZ 105 (Page 6) B. Secondary Baker, Jeffrey L. A Beast of a Highway, Report on Eight Culverts on US 191 Between Mileposts and Cochise County, Arizona: Documentation of Information Potential Associated with the Historic State Highway System (TRACS 191 CH 55 Mesa, Arizona: EcoPlan Associates, Inc., Brown, David E. Semidesert Grassland. In Biotic Communities: Southwestern United States and Northwestern New Mexico, edited by D.E. Brown. Salt Lake City, Utah: University of Utah Press, Federal Highway Administration, Arizona Department of Transportation, and Arizona State Historic Preservation Office.

Interim Procedures for the Treatment of Historic Roads. Phoenix, Arizona: Arizona Department of Transportation, FRASERdesign. Bridges, Arizona Historic Bridge Inventory. Loveland, Colorado: FRASERdesign Keane, Melissa, and J. Simon Bruder. Good Roads Everywhere: A History of Road Building in Arizona. Cultural Resource Report Phoenix, Arizona: URS, Mark E., and Fred Anderson. Arizona Transportation History. Tempe, Arizona: History Plus, Rhoda, Jeanette. Automotive Transportation in Arizona, Phoenix, Arizona: State Historic Preservation Office,