Staging for the project was done from the south approach, where construction began.

Looking across the canyon to the south abutment and the turn off to the town of White Bird. The old highway is in the bottom of the canyon.  The Salmon River is just beyond the grassy hill.

The steel was shipped cross country by rail and trucked to the job from the south.  There was a closer railhead to the north, but the north side of the canyon is too steep to provide good work space, and the girders would not negotiate the switchbacks north of town.  The main girders average 100 feet in length and weigh 42 to 48 tons each, while the knee braces are 52 tons apiece, and the short haunch girders a mere 32 tons.  Transport over the highway was accomplished with the front end on a dolly and the rear end on a steer trailer.  Pilot cars were required fore and aft.

Falsework bents were erected prior to placing the bridge steel as the bridge would not be self supporting until the final connection was made.  The falsework towers are of a "Tinker Toy" design consisting of identical sets of bolt together components with only the top cap being a custom fixture.  The vertical members are about 8" square and the bracing is 2" tubing.

The head block already has a sling on one side of the sister hook. The girder on the right is about to be moved closer to the edge of the abutment.  The crane will then be repositioned before putting the girder into place.

The crane in the foreground will set the girder down overhanging the edge.  The 2 cranes will then each lift 1 end and move the girder into place.

The first girder goes into place.

Getting ready to move the second girder to the edge.

Moving the second girder into position.

The crane is backing up carrying 1 end of the knee brace.

Two cranes lift the knee brace clear of the ground, then the left end will be raised and the right lowered until it is upright.

With the beam upright, the lower crane will slack off, transferring the load entirely to the higher rig.  The lines draped over the boom pendants will be used to temporarily guy the brace while the cranes are repositioned.

The lower crane has completely slacked off and the beam is supported entirely by the upper crane.

Two men are climbing down the beam after unhooking the lower crane.

Now suspended by a single crane, the knee brace is being set on its foundation bolts, while the other crane is moved back up to the abutment where it will be set up for the luffing operation.

The knee brace is now bolted to its foundation and tied off in a near vertical position.   The crane on the lower landing has moved to the right.  Its jib has been installed for handling men, tools and rigging.  The whip line of the crane on the roadway is being taken off the boom and will be reeved horizontally to luff the brace into position.

The first knee brace is in position, and the luffing reeve is down and the fixtures are being removed from the beam.

The 32 ton haunch girder is the first piece to be lifted the full height of the bridge.  The scaffolds on the side of the girder are for the connectors to work from while bolting the haunch onto the knee brace.

The "sidewalk superintendents" on the old highway are enjoying their last good view.  The road will be closed when the work progresses past this point.

The foreman checks the load as he climbs to join the connectors

Next, the second haunch goes up.  The inside men are waiting at the top to begin bolting.  Note the angle in the fixture at the top of the falsework.  This allows for the slope and arch in the bridge.

Once a girder is in place, the cranes are required to hold it 'til 55% of the bolts are torqued.  The cranes are then cut loose to set up for the next pick while the bolting is finished.

Here is where we find out how well the surveyors did their job.  The first intermediate girder goes up. It fits  into the other parts and the bolt holes line up. The attachment is made with fishplates.  There are about 850 bolts in each end.

Placement of the second intermediate girder completes the south third of the structure.  The cranes will be partially dismantled and moved  into the canyon where they will be reassembled and moved onto the north slope to begin work on the other end.

Assembling the crane boom on the old highway.  Note the 22% slope of the access road going to the north end work landings.

Booming up after assembly and reeving.

The knee braces were the first parts put up on the north end.  Here, the luffing lines are being attached.

With 1 knee brace set, the cranes have moved out to make way for bringing up the next girder. The dozer is pulling a sulky derrick which carries one end of the girder; the other end is on a steer trailer.  The girder will be backed onto a switchback and the dozer & sulky will move out to give the cranes access.

Next, the haunch girders were placed atop the knee braces.

The abutment girders have been placed and the intermediate girder is being brought up slope to the cranes.  Another girder can be seen at the far right.

When the north third of the steel was hung, the cranes moved down to the canyon floor where they were reconfigured to set the 3 interconnecting center sections.  Here, the first south end cantilever is being placed.  The crane on the left has replaced its short throat boom tip with a long taper tip.

The second cantilever goes on the south end.  The rig in the foreground has added mid-point suspension lines on the boom.

Going up. The view from the skip on the way up to the bridge.

One of the reconfigured cantilever girders goes up on the north end.

Topping out.  The first center span goes up.  The 2 cranes paired on the right are lifting with an equalizer bar between their hooks.

The second center span went up the following day, completing 5 month's steel work.  A reinforced concrete roadway was built atop the structure and the bridge was opened for traffic in early 1975.  Within a year, work was done to relieve accumulating southward pressure against the north abutment.