Midgley Bridge: Connecting Sedona and Flagstaff since 1939

If you’ve traveled State Route 89A between Flagstaff and Sedona, you know the road winds through some of Arizona’s most beautiful and iconic scenery. One part of that drive is the Midgley Bridge over Wilson Canyon, just north of Sedona.

According to historic bridge inventory documents, in 1930, the U.S. Bureau of Public Roads decided to do an extensive upgrade of the Oak Creek Highway between Sedona and Flagstaff. Known and funded as Arizona Forest Project 7, the construction proceeded in several intermediate sections through the early 1930s. The final link was the Midgley Bridge. 

BPR engineers designed this medium-span steel deck arch, which resembled, on a smaller scale,the Navajo Bridge that was completed in 1929. The two-hinge, spandrel-braced deck arch extended 240 feet between reinforced concrete arch pedestals. The two steel arch ribs consisted of a built-up box beam made of twin channels with double lacing on top and bottom. These supported a series of W-beam and built-up columns upon which the I-beam steel floor beams rested.

Excavation of the canyon walls began in March 1938 for foundation placement. The steel structure was completed October 31 of that year the bridge was fully completed in 1939. The Midgley Bridge, named after area cattle rancher W.W. Midgley, has carried traffic on US 89A ever since.

Although the bridge is not as visually impressive as the nationally significant Navajo Bridge, the Midgley Bridge is a well-preserved and picturesque example of a dramatic structure type. It’s also historically noteworthy as the final link on the Oak Creek Highway between Sedona and Flagstaff.