The Rock O' The Range Bridge, sometimes called the Swalley Canal Bridge, is a bridge located north of Bend

Bend, Oregon

Bend is a city in and the county seat of Deschutes County, Oregon, United States, and the principal city of the Bend, Oregon Metropolitan Statistical Area. Bend is Central Oregon's largest city, and, despite its modest size, is the de facto metropolis of the region, owing to the low population...

, Oregon

Oregon

Oregon is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is located on the Pacific coast, with Washington to the north, California to the south, Nevada on the southeast and Idaho to the east. The Columbia and Snake rivers delineate much of Oregon's northern and eastern...

, U.S., on a street adjacent to U.S. Route 97

U.S. Route 97 in Oregon

In the U.S. state of Oregon, U.S. Route 97 is a major north–south United States highway which runs through the state of Oregon . In Oregon, it runs from the Oregon-California border, south of Klamath Falls, to the Oregon-Washington border on the Columbia River, between Biggs Junction, Oregon and...

. It is the only covered span in the state of Oregon on the east side of the Cascade Range

Cascade Range

The Cascade Range is a major mountain range of western North America, extending from southern British Columbia through Washington and Oregon to Northern California. It includes both non-volcanic mountains, such as the North Cascades, and the notable volcanoes known as the High Cascades...

. It is also one of the few privately owned covered bridges.

History

William Bowen, a proprietor of land north of Bend, was forced to build an access road across the Swalley Canal to access his property. His bridge was inspired by the Goodpasture Bridge

Goodpasture Bridge

The Goodpasture Bridge spans the McKenzie River near the community of Vida in Lane County, Oregon, United States. It is the second longest covered bridge and one of the most photographed covered bridges in the state...

 in Lane County

Lane County, Oregon

-National protected areas:*Oregon Islands National Wildlife Refuge *Siuslaw National Forest *Umpqua National Forest *Willamette National Forest -Government:...

. Bowen hired Maurice Olson to build the bridge; it was finished in 1963 for $4500 ($ in ), and represents an architectural style unique to the state.

High loads have damaged the portal boards and roof braces, due to an unusually short 9 feet (274.3 cm) clearance.

Controversy

Though the Rock O' The Range Bridge has a roof on it, it is technically not a covered bridge according to the World Guide because it is not supported by a truss

Truss

In architecture and structural engineering, a truss is a structure comprising one or more triangular units constructed with straight members whose ends are connected at joints referred to as nodes. External forces and reactions to those forces are considered to act only at the nodes and result in...

. The World Guide appended a letter to the identification number to make it unique to other covered bridges.

The bridge, because of its small size and safety hazard, is denied maintenance by Deschutes County

Deschutes County, Oregon

-National protected areas:* Deschutes National Forest * Newberry National Volcanic Monument-Demographics:As of the census of 2000, there were 115,367 people, 45,595 households, and 31,962 families residing in the county. The population density was 38 people per square mile . There were 54,583...

. Upkeep is performed by homeowners using the bridge.