Waterhole Canyon Bridge is out-of-this-world

Featuring a rigid concrete frame and angled pedestals built solidly into the canyon bedrock, some may draw comparisons to a spaceship landing pad. Named for the winding slot canyon it spans, Waterhole Canyon Bridge is located just south of Page on US 89.

How did this out-of-this-world bridge get built? The idea, according to historic documents, began in 1956 when the Colorado River Storage Project got approved; the centerpiece of that project was the Glen Canyon Dam. Engineers with the U.S. Reclamation Service (predecessor to the Bureau of Reclamation) started planning ways to get materials and workers to the dam construction site. To that end, a 25-mile-long highway from Bitter Springs to the Colorado River was built. The Waterhole Canyon Bridge was one of the larger structures along the construction road route.

Influenced by space-age design trends of its day, the Waterhole Canyon bridge was completed by Christmas 1957 and has carried traffic on US 89 ever since.