Gribblenation

Back in 2015 I was ending a long road trip in the Northwest Region on of the Continental United States and had an extra day to kill in the Salt Lake City area.  That being the case I decided to head out to Antelope Island in the middle of Great Salt Lake on the Antelope Island Causeway. Antelope Island is the largest within Great Salt Lake at 42 square miles and is entirely located within Davis County.  Antelope Island is home to Antelope Island State Park which was created in 1969.  The creation of Antelope Island State Park led to the development of the first Antelope Island Causeway which was located over Farmington Bay just as the current structure.  The first Antelope Island Causeway was part of third Utah State Route 127 which was created in 1965 and still exists between UT 110 and UT 108. The waters of Great Salt Lake fluctuates wildly depending on winter rainfall.  Great Salt Lake has been known to shrink to only 950 Square Miles in dry years and ...

Back in 2012 I visited the Gillespie Dam Bridge located southwest of Phoenix in rural Maricopa County along the Gila River. The Gillespie Dam Bridge is a truss bridge located directly south of the failed 1921 Gillespie Dam on the Gila River.  The Gillespie Dam Bridge was completed in August of 1927 and was part of early US Route 80.  The Gillespie Dam Bridge is 1,662 feet long, has a road deck 25 feet wide, has 9 spans, and 8 pilings in the Gila River Bed.  The Gillespie Dam Bridge saw service on US Route 80 until the highway was shifted eastward in 1956 to the current Arizona State Route 85 corridor. The Gillespie Dam Bridge actually survived a breach of it's namesake dam.  The Gillespie Dam is a 1,700 foot wide concrete arch structure which was completed in 1921 as stated above.  The Gillespie Dam was originally designed for cars to travel over, but with the spill-over design it meant that it couldn't be crossed when the reservoir topped out.  The ...