Escalante River Bridge, Spanning Escalante River at State Route 12, 9.5 miles east of Escalante, Escalante

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER UTAH,9-ESCA.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

The Escaiante River Bridge, built by the Civil- ian Conservation Corps in under the supervision of Albert DeLong, Jr. and Daniel N. Covington, represents a unique multiple span concrete slab bridge. It is the only known bridge in Utah which was built to allow flood- waters to flow over its deck and is the last one- lane bridge still extant on the Utah State Highway system. The completion of the bridge and road provided the first all-weather road connecting the town of Boulder to other parts of Utah and ended one of the last pack mule postal services in the United States.

Source document Quoted word for word from HAER UTAH,9-ESCA.V,1-. Not written, edited or summarised by this site.

Michael R. Polk, Sagebrush Archaeological Consultants, Ogden, Utah. March Photographer: Michael R. Polk, Sagebrush Archaeological Consultants, Ogden, Utah. February Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 2) H. HISTORY A. Need For Bridge South-central Utah was one of the more remote parts of the territory during the mid when the region was first settled by European-Americans. As a consequence, settlement of the area occurred late as compared to the rest of the territory. The first major occupation of present-day Utah took place when Mormon immigrants settled in the area of the future site of Salt Lake City in The southern part of Utah was settled over the following 30 to 40 years.

This was due, in part, to its distance from the Salt Lake City area, but also because of its rugged and inhospi- table nature. Much of the area is dissected by deep canyons, and high mountains and plateaus which discouraged both early settlement and the development of trans- portation routes through the area.

Most of south-central Utah was bypassed during the first wave of Mormon Church colonization in the southern part of the state during the Colonies were not founded further east until the Salina and Monroe, both founded in and Panguitch, founded in were the first outlying settlements in south-central Utah to be located outside of the "Mormon Corridor" (a corridor of land from Salt Lake City to the Pacific Ocean in southern California along which colonies were planted).1 Settlement of areas even further east were slow to develop, due to the difficult terrain, poor transportation routes and less desirable agricultural lands. As a result, it was not until during the colonization efforts of the that Escalante was founded, a settlement in the heart of this region.

Escalante began and has remained an agricultural community, emphasizing livestock raising. After initial settlement, the population of the town grew rapidly to 623 in After this time, the population increased slowly from 667 in 723 in 846 in to in During this period, the community remained quite isolated because the only road connecting Escalante to the outside world crossed a foot high pass, making winter travel very difficult.3 This road was reconstructed by the Forest Service in During this time there were no roads beyond Escalante to the north, south or east, only trails. Interestingly, a settlement did exist beyond Escalante. The town of Boulder, located about 30 miles northeast of Escalante4 at an elevation of feet, was initially settled in as a ranching community.

From its initial settlement until the middle good roads did not exist to connect the town with the outside world. Two trails connected Boulder to other communities, including one which extended north over Boulder Mountain to Grover, and the other south to the Escalante River and on to Escalante. Neither trail was a good route, though most wagon traffic traversed the northern route because of its less steep terrain.5 In the U.S. Mail began delivery, twice a week, to this community via pack horse or mule over the trail from Escalante.6 Early in this century Escalante endeavored to improve the level of transportation to its isolated setting, but Boulder (which was even more isolated) struggled to gain even a seasonal road for wagon travel.

Efforts toward this goal, attempted by Boulder residents, were locally funded and largely carried out by Garfleld County road crews. These efforts consisted of limited work done on the road from Esca- lante in and It was not until the Depression era, however, that the first adequate vehicular road was built to Boulder. Escalante River Bridge HAER No.

UT-80 (page 3) The onset of the Depression created economic hardships throughout the nation, none greater, however, than in the Intermountain area.8 As the economic difficulties deepened into the early unemployment and poverty reached such proportions that the federal government created the Progress Administration, Public Warks Administration and Civilian Conservation Corps These agencies were created in an attempt to both alleviate the unemployment problem and to improve the country's public works infrastructure. The latter goal was a critical element prompting the construction of roads to Boulder and surrounding areas.

In two CCC camps were established at Escalante in Garfield County and in Grover, in adjacent ^A&yne County.9 Temporary satellite "spike camps" were placed near various project locations. All of the CCC work in the area was done under the direction of the Powell National Forest (now Dixie National Forest). Though of great benefit to the residents of Boulder, construction of a road to the community by the Forest Service was probably as much to provide access to ranger stations and parts of the National Forest as to make the town more accessible.

Under the direction of Forest Service employees, two roads were completed to the town of Boulder between and The first road connecting Boulder with Escalante, known as "Hell's Backbone Road" or the upper road, became usable in the fall of and was completed in Completion of this road provided Boulder with its first road connection to the outside world. In another road, known as the East End Road, was completed by the CCC workers. This road connected Boulder and Grover.11 Despite the completion of the two roads, vehicular travel on the roads was still impossible during the winter months. A year-round road remained the desire of Boulder residents, lb alleviate this problem, the Forest Service and CCC agreed to construct a year-round "lower road" from Escalante to Boulder.

began on this project in the mid This construction project was described by Baldridge:12 In an all-year road was started which followed the approximate route taken by the pack trains [from Escalante]. This route traveled east of Escalante to Calf Creek, climbed out of the canyon to the rim, and then swung north along the sharp ridge of volcanic rock. Here lay a situation similar to Hell's Backbone where it became necessary to blast the top of the narrow ridge in order to secure enough space to build the road. The route continued over the New Home Bench and on into Boulder. By only five miles of this "million-dollar road to Boulder" remained to be completed, ^ve miles that had to be blasted through solid rock. Supervisor A.C.

Folster of the Powell National Forest announced that bags of cement and two tons of steel were needed to build two more bridges. He explained that the Forest Serv- ice or CCC funds were not available since that portion of the road lay outside the National Forest. In spite of protests by the Associated Civic Clubs of Southern Utah the Escalante camp transferred in the spring of and work on the road came to a halt. In September, however, Senator Elbert Thomas an- nounced that Escalante would be one of the eight Forest Service camps operating during the winter and work shortly commenced. Escalante River Bridge HAER No.

UT-80 (page 4) By mid April only one-half mile of the solid sandstone remained to be removed and Regional Forester stated that by early summer completion of the road would make it "...possible toI3reach Boulder, Utah...[by road] any time in the year for the first time in history". Lenora Hall LeFevre provides further details on the road construction:14 [Completion of the road]...included blasting through the sandstone ledges to the [Escalante] river and along the sheer canyon walls east of Calf Creek, where the men built a one-room rock house for an office. Upstream on a bend of the Escalante River they rocked up Praps' grave. Another spike camp was established on John King's property in the meadow south of their home.

The spike camp at the Boulder ranger station had already been in use by the crew who worked the East End road around the Boulder mountain. As the road construction neared completion, the two15bridges noted by Baldridge were all that remained to complete the road project. One of these bridges was to span the Escalante River and a smaller one was to span nearby Calf Creek. B. Bridge Construction History By the spring of the costs of road construction had depleted the funds of the CCC and the Forest Service. Also, the Forest Service believed it was not their responsibility to fund the construction of expensive bridgesI6on the Escalante River and Calf Creek which lay outside of National Forest lands.

Through the urgings of the Associated Civic Clubs of Southern Utah, local Forest officials, citizens and civic organizations, an agreement was reached between the Powell National Forest, Division of Grazing (Grazing Service) and Garfield County to jointly bear the costs of construction and, thus, complete the road.17 The cost of construction materials for both of these bridges was The largest part of that sum was used in con- struction of the much larger Escalante River Bridge.I8 Construction on the Escalante River Bridge (and presumably the smaller Calf Creek Bridge as well) appears to have begun in March while the road was still under construction.1* It was completed in mid20June with the official opening of the bridge and road taking place on June 21, The bridge construction was supervised by Albert DeLong and Dan Covington.

Labor for construction of the bridge came from two camps. Near the end of construction of the lower road in March CCC members of the Boulder Ranger Station Spike Camp were moved to the Calf Creek and Escalante CCC Camps to be nearer the work. Completion of this bridge and the road ended the need for wintertime pack mule mail service to Boulder from Escalante, thus ending one of the last of these services in the United States. In honor of the completion of the final link in the year-round road from Escalante to Boulder, residents of Escalante and Boulder sponsored a celebration on June 27, This celebration included a tour of the road and bridge and a barbecue and rodeo at Boulder.24 Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 5) II. THE BRIDGE A.

Description The fifty-four year old bridge on State Route 12 is oriented west-northwest by east- southeast spanning the course of the southeastward flowing Escalante River channel. The Escalante River Bridge consists of a 14 pier, 15 span, steel reinforced, poured concrete slab structure, measuring 240 feet long with a 14 foot wide running sur- face. It has six-inch wide segmented raised concrete curbs on either side of the deck. The bridge supports consist of rectangular concrete piers with rounded ends. The piers are spaced every 16 feet and are oriented perpendicular to the flow of the river channel. As a result, the piers are set at a slight diagonal to the running sur- face of the deck. The piers are finished in a dome shape up to the sides of the bridge deck.

Because of excessive siltation which has occurred in the vicinity of the bridge since construction, only nine of the 14 piers are presently visible and only four of those serve the purpose of allowing water to pass beneath the bridge. 25Silt has covered 110 feet of the west end and 75 feet of the east end of the bridge. The bridge structure, constructed with squat multiple piers anchored to the underly- ing sandstone and low segmented curbs, was designed to allow floodwaters to pass over the entire bridge without resulting in structural damage. Two masonry abutment walls were constructed at each end of the bridge. They are made of shaped sandstone blocks mortared together with concrete.

Except for a few visible portions of the wall on the south side of the east end of the bridge, all traces of these abutments have been buried by siltation. Historic photographs indicate that the wall at the east end of the bridge extended southward to a sandstone bedrock exposure. The abutment on the north end forms a retaining wall to hold up the road materials at the end of the bridge and keep high waters from eroding the road base. This structure has been completely buried beneath silt. The bridge deck surface was originally concrete, but was paved with asphalt when the entire road was paved during the mid There are five expansion joints built into the bridge, evenly spaced at about 50 foot intervals. These joints are set at a diagonal to the deck and are filled with pliable tar.

The low concrete curbs are segmented, consisting of four-foot long curbs alternating with one-foot long open- ings to allow water to flow off the deck. There have been two minor additions to the bridge since construction. A metal water depth gauge is attached to one of the concrete piers on the north side of the bridge. Old depth numbers are painted in white on the same pier. Also, there is a one-half inch conduit pipe attached to the north side of the bridge extending its entire length. This conduit carries the telephone wires connecting Escalante and Boulder. Overall, the bridge is well constructed and represents a unique design for a concrete slab bridge. The superstructure is in good condition. The curb is in deteriorated condition in places where reinforcing steel is exposed.

Much of the bridge has been buried by silt which precludes complete inspection of the structure. Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 6) B. Ownership and Future The Escalante River Bridge was paid for by several governmental agencies including the Forest Service, Grazing Service, Garfield County and Civilian Conservation Corps (in the form of labor). It appears that ownership of the bridge was turned^26 over to the Utah State Road Commission soon after construction was completed. The bridge has remained a part of the state road system since that time. Traffic volume27on the structure has dramatically increased over the years as has traffic speed. As such, the bridge has become functionally obsolete and is now rated as a hazard due to its narrow and low profile.

A two-lane replacement structure is scheduled to be built on the site in which will be high enough to allow Esca- lante River floodwaters to safely pass underneath rather than flow over the bridge. IV. BRIDGE BIOGRAPHICAL MATERIAL A. Engineering and Design The engineering design for the Escalante Bridge is not known. It was built by the CCC under the direction of Forest Service personnel, but it is not known whether that agency designed the structure. No plans have been found for the bridge. The design of the structure is quite unique. It is a slab bridge with multiple spans, an unusual curb configuration and was built to allow flood waters to pass over its deck. Such a design suggests that it was locally engineered to match the particular envi- ronmental requirements of Escalante Canyon.

B. Bridge Builders The Escalante River Bridge was built by laborers under the direction of super- visors Albert DeLong and Dan Covington. It appears that Albert DeLong was the Forest Service employee in charge and that Dan Covington was the CCC foreman. The project was carried out entirely under the direction of Powell National Forest. Albert DeLong was one of the first forest rangers in Utah. He worked on the Powell National Forest in Panguitch, Utah from to primarily supervising grazing allotments and issuing permits.29 He was bom May 10, in Panguitch to Albert and Elizabeth Houston DeLong. On June 4, he married Mary Ellen Pryor in Cedar City.

His wife, Mary Ellen, died in After his official retire- ment from the Forest Service in DeLong locally farmed small amount of acreage and continued to work on various construction projects in the county. Some of these projects were done for the Forest Service. Apparently, he sometimes took his team of horses out when road construction projects were undertaken. According to Elizabeth Judd, daughter of Albert DeLong, he was working for the Forest Serv- ice on contract during the time of construction of the Escalante River Bridge. DeLong continued to live in Panguitch the remainder of his life. He died after an illness on September 14, EscaJante River Bridge HAERNo. UT-80 (page 7) Daniel M.

Covington was foreman of various CCC camps for seven years.30 He was born May 7, in Orderville, Utah to John T. and Elizabeth Adams Coving- ton. He married Leona Heath of NN&yne County. It is known that Covington, as foreman, was one of the leaders who set up a CCC Spike Camp at Calf Creek in May as part of Company Camp out of Escalante.31 This camp was the one which eventually built the Escalante River Bridge in In March Covington was teaching courses to CCC boys in Masonry, possibly a clue to his expertise in the bridge construction.32 After completion of work on the Escalante River Bridge in June Covington moved on to other CCC projects. In July he was stationed at the Big Cottonwood CCC Camp in Salt Lake County, Utah.

While working on a Forest Service road project in Alta on July 14, Covington died of a heart attack. Escaiante River Bridge HAERNo. UT-80 (page 8) 0 METERS 100 0 CONTOUR INTERVAL 40 FEET SUPPLEMENTAL CONTOUR INTERVAL 20 FEET Location of Escaiante River Bridge spanning the Escaiante River 9.5 miles east of Escaiante, Garfield County, Utah. Taken from: Quadrangle Calf Creek, Utah RL Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 9) Photocopy of a historic photograph of Escalante River Bridge under construction in spring The view is to the northwest. Original photograph is located in Historical files, Super- visor's office, Dixie National Forest, Cedar City, Utah.

Photocopy of a historic photograph of Escalante River Bridge piers under construction in spring The view is to the southwest Original photograph is located in Historical files, Supervisor's office, Dixie National Forest, Cedar City, Utah. Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 10) ."3 > ^- OS & u ffl'Ci - S > i S-2 3 HI o3 2*S & * "^ 2 2 > & o tZ s *| *Cco O W __ * 9 s cd ed 1- a. 2 23 ; as*** ^ '. . ':feAL-4.V'- Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 11) Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 12) V. ENDNOTES 1. Campbell, Eugene E., "Early Colonization Patterns", Utah's History, edited by Richard D. Poll, pp. Utah State University Press, Logan, Utah, p. 2. Nelson, Lowry, The Mormon Village: A Pattern and Technique of Land Settlement.

University of Utah Press, Salt Lake City, p. 95. 3. ^Mxrisey, Nethella Griffen, The Escalante Story: A History of the of Esca- lante, and Description of the Surrounding Territory, Garfield County, Utah, Art City Publishing Company, Springville, Utah, pp. 4. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Garfield County Company, Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days: A History of Garfield County, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Panguitch, Utah, p. 5. Kay, Blaine J., [Application submitted by Director of Transportation for funding for paving of road between Boulder and Grover, Utah], Utah Department of Transporta- tion, Salt Lake City, February 23, 6. Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Garfield County Company, Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days: A History of Garfield County, p. 7.

LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, Art City Publishing Company, Springville, Utah, pp. 8. Alexander, Thomas G., The Rise of Multiple-Use Management in the Intermountain A History of Region 4 of the Forest Service, U.S. Government Printing Office, TOishington, p. 9. LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People ofBoulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, pp. 10. Wbolsey, Nethella Griffen, The Escalante Story: A History of the Town of Esca- lante, and Description of the Surrounding Territory, Garfield County, Utah, p. 11.

LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, p. 12. Baldridge, Kenneth W., Nine years ofAchievement: The Civilian Conservation Camps in Utah, Dissertation, Department of History, Brigham Young Uni- versity, Provo, Utah, pp. 13. Ogden Standard Examiner, Youths Get Roads in Shape", 11 April p. 8, col. 1. Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 13) 14. LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, p. 15. Baidridge, Kenneth W., Nine Years of Achievement: The Civilian Conservation Camps in Utah, p. 16. Kane County Standard, Kanab, Utah, 22 July 17.

LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, p. Garfield County News, "Completion of Road Replaces Last Pack Mule Mail Route", 27 June p. 1, col. 6. 18. Gatfield County News, 27 June 19. King, Irene, "Lower Boulder Road is Passable", Gatfield County News, 21 March p. 1, col. 4. 20. Gatfield County News, "Escalante and Boulder Will Stage Big Celebration Honoring Completion of Road", 13 June p. 1, col. 3. 21. LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, p.

>Mx>lsey, Nethella Griffen, The Escalante Story: A History of the Town of Esca- lante, and Description of the Surrounding Territory, Garfield County, Utah, p. 22. King, Irene, Garfield County News, 21 March 23. Garfield County News, 13 June 24. Garfield County News, June 27, 25. Horn, Jonathan G, Cultural Resources Inventory of State Route 12 at the Escalante Bridge, Garfield County, Utah, Alpine Archaeological Consultants, Inc., Montrose, Colorado, p. 11. 26. Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), Escalante River Bridge file, on file in Structures Section, Utah Department of Transportation, State Office, Salt Lake City, 27. Davis, Sterling C, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) District Three Director, [Letter to Gordon R.

Staker, Cedar City District Manager, Bureau of Land Management, concerning UDOT's need to build and justification for proposed re- placement bridge on Escalante River], June 4, 28. LeFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, p. Wx)lsey, Nethella Griffen, The Escalante Story: A History of the of Esca- lante, and Description of the Surrounding Territory, Garfield County, Utah, p. Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 14) 29. Garfield County News, "Services for Albert DeLong", 21 September p. 1, col. 1; Judd, Elizabeth, [Telephone conversation between Michael R. Polk of Sagebrush and Elizabeth Judd, daughter of Albert DeLong concerning his life and work for the U.S.

Forest Service], March 15, 30. Salt Lake Tribune, Obituaries, 15 July p. 15, col. 5. 31. Escalante Slants, 14 Mav vol. 1, no. 7, p. 1. Newsletter of Company Camp Escalante, Utah.] 32. Sagebrush Saga, March vol. 1, no. 1, p. 9. newsletter of Company Camp Escalante, Utah.] VI. REFERENCES CITED A. Books and Published Sources Alexander, Thomas G., The Rise of Multiple-Use Management in the Intermountain West: A History of Region 4 of the Forest Service, Washington, U.S. Gov- ernment Printing Office, Campbell, Eugene E., "Early Colonization Patterns", Utah's History, edited by Richard D. Poll, pp.

Logan, Utah: Utah State University Press, Daughters of Utah Pioneers, Garfield County Company, Golden Nuggets of Pioneer Days; A History of Garfield County, Panguitch, Utah: Daughters of Utah Pioneers, I-eFevre, Lenora Hall, The Boulder Country and Its People; A History of the People of Boulder and the Surrounding Country, One Hundred Years, Spring- ville, Utah: Art City Publishing Company, Nelson, Lowry, The Mormon Village; A Pattern and Technique of Land Settlement, Salt Lake City: University of Utah Press, Wx>lsey, Nethella Griffen, The Escalante Story: A History of the Town of Esca- lante, and Description of the Surrounding Territory, Garfield County, Utah, Spring- ville, Utah: Art City Publishing Company, B.

Newspapers Garfield County News, "Escalante and Boulder Will Stage Big Celebration Honoring Completion of Road", 13 June p. 1, col. 3. , "Completion of Road Replaces Last Pack Mule Mail Route", 27 June p. 1, col. 6. Escalante River Bridge HAER No. UT-80 (page 15) , "Services for Albert DeLong", 21 September p. 1, col. 1. Kane County Standard, Kanab, Utah, 22 July King, Irene, "Lower Boulder Road is Passable", Garfteld County News, 21 March p. l,col. 4. Ogden Standard Examiner, Youths Get Roads in Shape", 11 April p. 8, col. 1. Salt Lake Tribune, Obituaries, 15 July p. 15, col. 5.

C Documents and Reports Baldridge, Kenneth W., Nine Years of Achievement: The Civilian Conservation Camps in Utah, Dissertation, Department of History, Brigham Young Uni- versity, Provo, Utah, Davis, Sterling C, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT) District Three Director, [Letter to Gordon R.

Staker, Cedar City District Manager, Bureau of Land Management, concerning UDOT's need to build and justification for proposed re- placement bridge on Escalante River], June 4, Horn, Jonathan C, Cultural Resources Inventory of State Route 12 at the Escalante Bridge, Garfteld County, Utah, Montrose, Colorado: Alpine Archaeological Con- sultants, Inc., Kay, Blaine J., [Application submitted by Director of Transportation for funding for paving of road between Boulder and Grover, Utah, Salt Late City: Utah Department of Transportation], February 23, Utah Department of Transportation (UDOT), Escalante River Bridge file, Structures Section, Utah Department of Transportation, State Office, Salt Late City, D. Newsletters Escalante Slants, 14 May vol. 1, no. 7, p. 1.

Newsletter of Company Camp Escalante, Utah.] Sagebrush Saga, March vol. 1, no. 1, p. 9. newsletter of Company Camp Escalante, Utah.] . Personal Communications Judd, Elizabeth, [Telephone conversation between Michael R. Polk of Sage- brush and Elizabeth Judd, daughter of Albert DeLong concerning his life and work for the U.S. Forest Service], March 15,