page_title: Royal Gorge Bridge
section_title: Park reopening
hierarchical_section_title: Royal Gorge Bridge / Park reopening
caption_attribution_description: English: Royal Gorge Bridge, Colorado, USA, from Arkansas River
context_page_description: The Royal Gorge Bridge is a tourist attraction near Cañon City, Colorado within Royal Gorge Bridge & Park, a 360-acre amusement park located along the edge of the Royal Gorge around both ends of the bridge. The bridge crosses the gorge 955 feet above the Arkansas River 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 bridge remains the highest bridge in the United States and was among the ten highest bridges in the world until 2012.
  The main span of the bridge between the towers is 880 feet, the total length is 1,260 feet, the width is 18 feet and the towers are 150 feet high. The steel base structure is covered with 1292 wooden planks. Passenger vehicles are allowed to cross the bridge, but only before park attractions open or after they close, times depending on season. Oversize vehicles, including large trucks, RVs and buses, are not permitted to cross.
context_section_description: The Royal Gorge Bridge and Park reopened on August 30, 2014. A grand reopening ceremony took place on May 8, 2015 after the completion of $30 million in repairs. The rebuilding plan did not include the wildlife park and those animals were relocated. The bridge entry is open daily from 7 am until dusk with the visitor center, rides and attractions opening at 10 am, weather permitting. 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.
  In January 2016, the Royal Gorge Company of Colorado paid the city a record high $2.1 million lease payment. Attendance in 2015 was the highest in the park's history at nearly 350,000 visitors. The attendance figure represented an increase of 20% from the attendance of about 292,000 in 2012, the last full year of operations before the 2013 fire. 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.
caption: Wide view from the river
exif: {}