Timpanogos Cave National Monument: Stone Bridge and River Walls – Mount Timpanogos UT

Description

The Works Progress Administration (WPA) joined the Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) in making improvements to Timpanogos Cave National Monument in the 1930s. They worked under the supervision of the National Park Service (NPS).

A notable contribution of the WPA was to build a lovely stone arch bridge over the American Fork river in 1935.  The bridge gives access to the Superintendent’s Residence, built by the WPA in 1941.  The WPA relief workers also faced both sides of the river with 6-10 foot high stone walls for a distance of about 100 feet on each side of the bridge. The stonework is quite elegant, made up of well-fitting blocks that have withstood the river’s torrents for almost a century (rather rare in these kinds of early channelization projects).

The bridge and river walls are part of the Timpanogos Cave Historic District, established in 1982 (nps.gov)

There is a second bridge about 500 feet upriver, leading to the present Administration building, and more rock work along the river.  That work may have been done by the CCC crews working from Camp F-43 (Pleasant Grove) in 1935 (Roper, p. 90).

The second bridge is not mentioned in the application for the Historic District, which does note more rock walls built in the 1950s (whose quality is notably poorer than those built by the WPA in the 1930s). However, it is possible that the second bridge was built by the WPA or the CCC. 

In addition, the substantial rock walls continue farther downstream through the Swinging Bridge Picnic Area. Further information is needed on this, too.