Historic Bridge Closure Cuts Off Popular Mount Rainier National Park Areas
A 103-year-old bridge in Washington state has been closed due to safety concerns, making some popular areas of Mount Rainier National Park impossible to reach.
The Washington State Department of Transportation announced on April 14 that the State Route 165 Carbon River Fairfax Bridge is closed until further notice, writes the Washington State Department of Transportation.
The closure came after a recent inspection found new damage to the bridge’s steel supports. The single-lane bridge, which has stood for over a century, had already been under weight restrictions three times since 2009.
Popular hiking spots
Visitors can no longer access the Mowich Lake Entrance and Carbon River Ranger Station in the northwest corner of the park. This means popular hiking spots including the Paul Peak Trailhead, Mountain Meadows, and parts of the Wonderland Trail are now cut off.
“There is no funding available to replace the bridge at this point”, officials stated. “Years of deferred preservation work due to limited preservation funding resulted in the updated weight restrictions and now the indefinite closure.”
The situation highlights ongoing infrastructure challenges in Washington state, where the average age of state-owned bridges is 51 years – less than half the age of this now-closed historic bridge.
