The First Bridges

The First Bridges. Yesterday's Crossings. The growth of the city is traced in the growth of its bridges , , E.T. Coman, president of the Spokane Chamber of Commerce, at the dedication of the Monroe Street Bridge in 1911., Spokane is a city of bridges. With thriving commerce and industry on both sides of the deep gorge of the Spokane River, the city's prosperity depends on its bridges. Bridge building, therefore, has been a necessity and a challenge throughout the city's history. , Here at the Spokane Falls, the city faced a daunting challenge. The powerful Spokane River, and the depth of its gorge, make this site difficult for engineers and workers alike. , The first Monroe Street Bridge, built in 1888, was a wooden trestle structure. It was an impressive bridge: 1,240-feet-long and 100-feet-high in the center, with a 24-foot-wide roadway and 3-foot sidewalks. It carried power cables and tracks for a cable car , which must have been a thrilling ride, as the north and south approach ramps sloped downward to the center span, creating a “sway-back.”, The wooden bridge was dogged by trouble from the beginning. A dispute between the co-funders (the city, the cable car company, and nearby land-owners) forced a temporary closure shortly after it was completed. Floodwaters battered at the masonry piers. , Citizens complained of swaying as they rode or walked across, and workmen refused to labor on it while the cable car was in use. Finally, in 1890, an over-heated cable led to a fire that irreparably damaged the bridge. , The replacement, a steel truss bridge, was built in 1891. Although it removed the roller-coaster dip of the wooden bridge, it was only a marginal improvement structurally. Built for economy, rather than heavy use, it could not withstand the increasing traffic that came with city growth. Unstable fill necessitated closures and repairs, and persistent swaying led a visiting Good Roads Association advocate to recommend an ordinance prohibiting speeds faster than a walk., Complaints of instability convinced city planners to envision, and ultimately undertake, construction of a new, stronger bridge in 1910., The Great Concrete Debate , When it came time to replace the steel bridge, Spokane's city council faced a dilemma: steel or concrete? City engineers had lost confidence in steel, and the public was tired of the unnerving sway of the metal bridge (it's even said that in 1907, Ringling Brothers Circus elephants refused to cross the structure during a parade). Together, they pressed for something much more substantial. After much debate, concrete won the day.