The Royal Gorge Bridge is a tourist attraction in the United States near Cañon City, Colorado within Royal Gorge Bridge and Park, a 360-acre (150 ha) amusement park located along the edge of the Royal Gorge around both ends of the bridge. The bridge crosses the gorge 955 feet (291 m) and held the record of highest bridge in the world from 1929 until 2001 when it was surpassed by the Liuguanghe Bridge in China. The Royal Gorge Bridge maintained the title of the world's highest suspension bridge until the Beipan River Guanxing Highway Bridge was completed in 2003, also in China. The Royal Gorge Route Railroad runs under the bridge along the base of Royal Gorge.
History
1929–1950s
thumb|left|Bridge in 1940
The bridge was built between June and November 1929 at a cost of $350,000 (equivalent to $ million in dollars), which was $100,000 over budget (equivalent to $ million in dollars). The project was financed by Lon P. Piper, president of the Royal Gorge Bridge and Amusement Company of San Antonio, Texas. Piper hired George E. Cole as the Chief Engineer and the bridge was completed in about six months with no deaths or serious injuries. The first suicide occurred later the same year when a man, Verlyn Edward Bebb, from Pueblo, Colorado jumped off the bridge.
In 1967, an open bid was held for the leasing rights with several companies expressing interest in the acquisition. The bid was won by Murchison's company, which signed another twenty-year contract with the city. Eventually, the city and Fehr agreed on permanent easements that cost the city a one-time fee of $99,000.
21st century
thumb|upright|Cable strands
The Royal Rush Skycoaster was opened on the south side of the gorge in 2003 just east of the bridge. Weston was wearing a wingsuit, a skydiving suit with fabric extended below the arms to the body and between the legs to catch air, allowing for horizontal travel when skydiving. He was to go over the bridge while fellow skydiver Jeb Corliss was to go under it. Misjudging his distance from the bridge, Weston struck a railing while traveling an estimated 120 mph, severing his leg at the hip. He fell onto a ledge in the gorge under a parachute that had opened on impact, though it is assumed he had already died.
Between March and May 2012, three people committed suicide by jumping off the bridge. The average number of suicides in the previous twelve years had been one per year according to the general manager for the Royal Gorge Bridge and Park. As a result of the larger than normal costs incurred in retrieving the bodies, Cañon City was billed by the Royal Gorge Express LLC — owners of the railroad that runs below the bridge — for $5,025 for use of specialized equipment and qualified personnel in the recoveries. The three suicides occurred on March 6, March 14, and May 8. The third incident required four trips into the gorge, with the body being found a week later by river rafters. In 2022, safety upgrades, including security fencing and raised railings, were made to deter would-be jumpers.
2013 wildfire
thumb|left|upright|[[International Space Station|ISS image of burn scars with bridge circled in red]]
On June 11, 2013, most of the park structures on both sides of the gorge were devastated by a man-made wildfire. The fire jumped from the south to the north side of the gorge just west of the bridge and burned , of which was park property, over the next four days until it was contained. Rebuilding began about a week after the fire and demolition of all damaged structures took about five months. The new visitor center's groundbreaking ceremony was on January 31, 2014. The rebuilding plan did not include the wildlife park and those animals were relocated. Attractions that have been refurbished or rebuilt since the fire include a visitor center with an observation deck, a water clock, gondolas to replace the aerial trams, Plaza Theater and Historical Expo, Children's Playland, and the original Royal Rush Skycoaster. The Cloudscraper Zip Line — the highest in North America — opened on March 28, 2015. The damaged Incline Railway and the Silver Rock Railway are not listed among current rides and attractions. For the 2013 season the city was paid $1.68 million by the park's operating company, mostly from business continuation insurance. Park officials estimated after the fire that more than 26 million people had visited the park since it opened in 1929.
Highest bridges
left|thumb|Sign on bridge with inaccurate height in 2008
The Royal Gorge Bridge surpassed the Sidi M'Cid Bridge in Algeria in 1929 to become the highest bridge in the world with a deck height of , measured from the deck to the river surface below.