The Sheely Bridge carries pedestrian traffic across the Roaring Fork River

Roaring Fork River

Roaring Fork River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in west central Colorado in the United States. The river drains a populated and economically vital area of the Colorado Western Slope called the Roaring Fork Valley or Roaring Fork Watershed, which includes the resort...

 in Mill Street Park in Aspen

Aspen, Colorado

The City of Aspen is a Home Rule Municipality that is the county seat and the most populous city of Pitkin County, Colorado, United States. The United States Census Bureau estimates that the city population was 5,804 in 2005...

, Colorado, United States. It is a short steel truss bridge

Truss bridge

A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...

 originally located downstream in Carbondale

Carbondale, Colorado

Carbondale is a Home Rule Municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 5,196 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the mid valley of the Roaring Fork River, downstream from Aspen and upstream from the mouth of the Roaring Fork at Glenwood Springs. The town...

 and later moved to its present location.

It takes its current name from designer and builder Charles Sheely. When built as a highway bridge in the early 20th century it was one of the first in the state to use rivet

Rivet

A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...

s. It served its original purpose until the 1960s. In 1985 it was listed on the National Register of Historic Places

National Register of Historic Places

The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...

 and is one of two bridges in Aspen with that distinction, along with the Maroon Creek Bridge

Maroon Creek Bridge

The original Maroon Creek Bridge is a steel trestle along State Highway 82 at the western boundary of Aspen, Colorado, United States. It was designed by George S. Morison in 1888 for the Colorado Midland Railroad, one of the last trestles in Colorado built for a narrow gauge mountain railroad in...

 at the city's west end.

Structure

The bridge is located on Mill Street Park north of downtown Aspen, 200 feet (61 m) east of the intersection of North Mill and Puppy Smith streets. It is roughly in the center of the park, crossing the Roaring Fork between an open field and ponds to the south and a wooded area to the north between the bend in the river downstream and Gibson Avenue. On the west side of North Mill is a shopping plaza; north of Gibson is a residential area.

Structurally, the bridge has three sections. Two intersecting diagonals are in the center, with one in the ends. A wooden deck carries pedestrian and bicycle traffic on a path across the river.

History

Designer Charles Sheely, founder of the Charles G. Sheely Construction Company, was one of the three major in-state bridge designers and builders of late 19th- and early 20th-century Colorado. His best-known works are the Rifle

Rifle, Colorado

The City of Rifle is a Home Rule Municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 6,769 at the 2000 census. Rifle is a regional center of the cattle ranching industry located along Interstate 70 and the Colorado River just east of the Roan Cliffs, which dominate the...

 Bridge and Rainbow Arch Bridge, the last of which was the longest Marsh arch bridge in the world at the time of its construction.

What is now known as the Sheely Bridge was originally built to carry Colorado State Highway 133

Colorado State Highway 133

State Highway 133 is a long north–south byway connecting State Highway 82 to the north and State Highway 92 to the south, and travels through the towns of Hotchkiss, Somerset, Redstone, and Carbondale. Highway 133 travels over a significant mountain pass on the northern end, called McClure Pass,...

 across the Roaring Fork River

Roaring Fork River

Roaring Fork River is a tributary of the Colorado River, approximately long, in west central Colorado in the United States. The river drains a populated and economically vital area of the Colorado Western Slope called the Roaring Fork Valley or Roaring Fork Watershed, which includes the resort...

 at Carbondale

Carbondale, Colorado

Carbondale is a Home Rule Municipality in Garfield County, Colorado, United States. The population was 5,196 at the 2000 census. The town is located in the mid valley of the Roaring Fork River, downstream from Aspen and upstream from the mouth of the Roaring Fork at Glenwood Springs. The town...

 in 1911. It was one of the first rivet

Rivet

A rivet is a permanent mechanical fastener. Before being installed a rivet consists of a smooth cylindrical shaft with a head on one end. The end opposite the head is called the buck-tail. On installation the rivet is placed in a punched or pre-drilled hole, and the tail is upset, or bucked A rivet...

ed truss bridge

Truss bridge

A truss bridge is a bridge composed of connected elements which may be stressed from tension, compression, or sometimes both in response to dynamic loads. Truss bridges are one of the oldest types of modern bridges...

s built in the state. After 55 years it was replaced by a more modern bridge and moved to its current location in Aspen.

See also

• List of bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in Colorado
• National Register of Historic Places in Pitkin County, Colorado