Otowi Suspension Bridge

The Otowi Suspension Bridge, spanning the Rio Grande River near San Ildefonso, New Mexico, is a wooden single-lane suspension bridge for road traffic, built in 1924. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1997.^[1]

Otowi Suspension Bridge
Coordinates	35°52′30″N 106°08′28″W
Characteristics
Design	Suspension bridge
Material	Wood
History
Opened	1924
Otowi Suspension Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
U.S. Historic district Contributing property
NM State Register of Cultural Properties
Otowi Suspension Bridge
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Nearest city	San Ildefonso, New Mexico
Coordinates	35°52′29″N 106°8′29″W
Area	less than one acre
Built	1924 (1924)
Architect	Lee W. Campbell
Architectural style	Suspension bridge
Part of	Otowi Historic District (ID75001170)
MPS	Historic Highway Bridges of New Mexico MPS
NRHP reference No.	97000730[1]
NMSRCP No.	1670
Significant dates
Added to NRHP	July 15, 1997
Designated CP	December 4, 1975
Designated NMSRCP	May 9, 1997
Location

In its 1996 NRHP nomination, it is asserted to be significant in the areas of transportation and engineering. It was important for having opened a large part of New Mexico to automobile traffic, including Bandelier National Monument, the Pajarito Plateau, the townsite of Los Alamos and the Los Alamos National Laboratory, which became nationally important during World War II. It was also the only public highway suspension bridge in the state and was the best-rated bridge in the state in a 1987 survey.^[2][3]

The bridge was closed to vehicular traffic when a two-lane steel through truss bridge was opened in Spring 1948 just north of it. The steel bridge, with its 290-foot (88 m) length, was the longest road span in New Mexico at the time. ^[4] In turn, it has since been replaced^[when?] with a four-lane concrete deck bridge.

Now a pedestrian bridge, it was a contributing property in the listing of the Otowi Historic District to the National Register in 1975.^[5]

See also

• National Register of Historic Places portal

• National Register of Historic Places listings in Santa Fe County, New Mexico

References

1. "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. July 9, 2010.
2. David Rammer (1996). "Otowi Suspension Bridge". National Park Service. Retrieved May 27, 2016. with three photos
3. David Kammer (1996). "Historic Highway Bridges of New Mexico". National Park Service. Retrieved May 27, 2016.
4. Lyon, F. and Evans,J., editors ‘’Los Alamos: The First Forty Years’’ (Extract from Los Alamos Times, March 19, 1948), Los Alamos Historical Society, 1984, ISBN 0-941232-06-9
5. Michael P . McCachren (July 2, 1975). "Otowi HIstoric District". National Park Service. Retrieved May 27, 2016. with six photos (including several of the suspension bridge)