STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

It was eight years in the making. But, on Monday, the ribbon was cut on the new Colorado Gulch bridge across the Big Wood River south of Hailey.

Robin Tomasi, the widow of Olympic gold medalist and engineer Dick Fosbury, cut the ribbon along with Blaine County Commissioner Angenie McCleary. And she christened it High Bar Bridge—one of multiple suggestions submitted by Wood River Valley residents.

The high bar reference symbolizes the famous Fosbury Flop that set the bar for high jumpers following Fosbury’s historic performance at the 1968 Summer Olympics in Mexico City. And it symbolizes the high bar Fosbury always set for himself as he worked through challenges facing Blaine County as a Blaine County commissioner.

The Colorado Gulch bridge takes hikers and others into an area that still sports evidence of mining.

“Dick had only two possible modes—full-on caring to the max or zero interest,” Tomasi told Eye on Sun Valley. “When he became passionate about something, he was full on. He came to me the day the bridge died and said, ‘What about horses going over the bridge?’ And he talked to all my horse friends for considerations about crossing the bridge that the BLM might not have thought about.”

The new steel bridge replaces an older smaller bridge that was damaged during a flood in 2017.

The fast-moving river, which crested at 7.82 on May 7, 2017, tore away parts of the bank in Lions Park north of Colorado Gulch and picked up big rocks and cobblestones from the river bottom, depositing them near Heagle Park. This backed up the river, forcing it to rise as it flooded the Della View and Sherwood Forest neighborhoods

The new bridge has a wider span designed to handle high river flows. Additionally, the Wood River Land Trust, under the direction of Ryan Santo and, later, Cory McCaffrey, restored the floodplain in the area, removing riprap that contributed to flooding and improving fish habitat.

Sheepherders took their flock along Colorado Gulch Road over the weekend.

Because of the restoration, pedestrians no longer have to cross water on logs and planks just to get to the old bridge, as they used to during certain times of the year.

“It was really precarious,” noted Nick Miller. “This project took a lot of people doing a lot of stuff. And it’s terrific. The old bridge was too close together—it created a firehose of water going down the river.”

The bridge, which lies in the Wood River Land Trust’s Colorado Gulch Preserve, can be accessed from Colorado Gulch Road off Broadford Road or via a path from the WRLT’s orchard one block north.

The new bridge is open only to pedestrians, bicyclists and horse riders, although it is wide enough for emergency vehicles.

Bicyclists ride the Colorado Gulch in pursuit of a 40-mile loop that would take them to Glendale Road south of Bellevue.

McCleary said that replacing the bridge involved local, state and federal imput, as well as the assistance of nonprofit organizations such as the Wood River Land Trust and Trout Unlimited-Hemingway Chapter.

As a Blaine County commissioner, she added, Fosbury brought his passion and his expertise in engineering to the project. Honoring Fosbury’s memory with the bridge was a no-brainer, she added, as it represents connection to the water, connection for people and strength.

“Hopefully, this bridge will be stronger than the last!” she quipped.

About 50 people gathered for the ribbon cutting, which included barbecued hamburgers and hot dogs served up by McCaffrey and the Wood River Land Trust.

Muffy Davis, Lindsay Mollineaux, Wood River Land Trust Director Amy Trujillo and Blaine County Emergency Services Director Chris Corwin watch as Angenie McCleary and Robin Tomasi struggle to cut the ribbon.

Tomasi told onlookers that there are plans for a bench beside the bridge in honor of her late husband, who passed away in lymphoma in March 2023.

“Currently Dick is residing in a size 14 shoe box. I’ll take a couple tablespoons and put them at the bottom,” she said.

Blaine County Commissioner Muffy Davis said that she is thrilled the bridge has finally come to fruition.

“When I started on the Commission in 2021, this was a huge priority of Dick’s. We came out two, three times to survey it, and I know he’s smiling down on us,” she said.

Davis said the new bridge took a long time to plan. Once the design was done, no one bid to both build the bridge and install it.

“So, we separated the tasks, having someone build it and someone else install it. We got FEMA funds. Then, we lost federal funding and then we regained it. This thing called government sometimes takes a long time!” she added.

Tomasi said her husband was “super, super proud” of the bridge as he saw the work in progress.

“I know he’s looking down on this now,” she said, as she looked to the blue sky where a cloud resembling a smile had formed.