National and State Register

Cottonwood Creek Bridge

El Paso County

Completed in 1923, this cantilevered, concrete deck, girder bridge was an integral part of the North-South Highway, a main artery through Colorado during the early decades of the 20th century. 

A view of the bridge from one of the banks. The bridge is supported by three piers. Above the bridge are telephone wires and on either side are dead trees and a dirt road.

Cottonwood Creek Bridge

Comprised of four 53-foot spans, it is one of four remaining concrete girder bridges the highway department designed and built in the 1920s employing cantilevering to achieve long span lengths, thus distinguishing it from the scores of concrete slab and beam bridges constructed during this period.  The bridge’s design incorporated hammered concrete treatment on the spandrels and cast concrete balusters forming the guardrails.