Royal Gorge Bridge near Cañon City, Colorado, was built in 1929 as a visitor destination spanning the gorge 955 feet above the Arkansas River, not as a general road crossing. Financed by Lon P. Piper and engineered by George E. Cole, it quickly became the centerpiece of a larger park with added rail, tram, and thrill attractions. Long celebrated for its height, it held the world record as the highest bridge from 1929 to 2001 and remains the highest bridge in the United States. Despite renovation, legal disputes, wildfire damage to the park in 2013, and later safety upgrades, the bridge endured as the site's defining feature.