The main span was a 90 foot Howe Truss spanning over Bridge Creek. The photo shows a side view of the bridge showing the open sides of the bridge and the bridge trusses. The creek, dirt road, and hills with scattered trees or bushes are visible in the photograph.
Bridge Creek flows into the John Day River in western Wheeler County.
Wheeler County in 1917 was without rail or water transportation and its dependency on automobile travel forced a program to improve road facilities. The necessity for housing a wooden truss in the dry climate of eastern Oregon was dubious. When the standards of eastern Oregon highways were finally raised, covered bridges were replaced with narrow concrete or steel structures. After a useful life of thirty-five years the bridge was replaced in 1952 with a concrete skew span. Sargent Butte seen rising behind the bridge, and to the left is Sand Mountain.