Beebe Bridge

About

The Beebe Bridge (BEE-bee) is a two-lane, steel through arch bridge crossing the Columbia River at Chelan Falls, Washington. Located three miles east of Lake Chelan, the bridge is part of U.S. Route 97 and averages 5000 vehicle crossings per day. The Beebe Bridge is 1,040 feet (320 m) long with a deck width of 26 feet (7.9 m), supporting one lane of traffic in each direction and 3-foot (0.91 m) sidewalks on either side. It is one of three "Continuous-steel through-truss tied-arch" bridges in the state. The Blue Bridge over the Columbia in the Tri-Cities, and the Elmer Huntley Bridge over the Snake are of the same design. Seismically retrofitted in 2000, the Beebe Bridge was considered to be in very good condition following its last structural safety inspection in 2007. In 1959, WSDOT began construction of the current bridge, which was opened in June 1963 at a cost of $1,120,000.

Adapted from Wikipedia (CC BY-SA). Photography via Wikimedia Commons.