Q 01/05

Why was the Royal Gorge Bridge built across its Colorado canyon?

A) To reach a gold camp

B) To carry a state highway

C) As a tourist attraction

D) To carry a gas pipeline

Answer · why

C) As a tourist attraction

As a tourist attraction, the bridge exists purely to give people a view down into the gorge. Its backer leased the site for just $1,000 a year.

Q 02/05

Clint Murchison Jr., who inherited the Royal Gorge Bridge with his brother, founded which NFL team?

A) Houston Oilers

B) Pittsburgh Steelers

C) Green Bay Packers

D) Dallas Cowboys

Answer · why

D) Dallas Cowboys

Dallas Cowboys founder Clint Murchison Jr. and his brother John were left the bridge and its lease by their oil-tycoon father. The family held it into...

Q 03/05

What destroyed 48 of 52 buildings at Royal Gorge Bridge and Park in 2013 yet spared the span itself?

A) A flash flood

B) A wildfire

C) A tornado

D) A rockslide

Answer · why

B) A wildfire

A wildfire jumped the gorge and burned for four days, leaving the bridge with only minor deck damage. The park reopened in 2014 with new rides.

Q 04/05

Which country opened the bridge that ended the Royal Gorge Bridge's 72 years as the world's highest?

A) France

B) Japan

C) China

D) Norway

Answer · why

C) China

China opened the Liuguanghe Bridge just 19 feet higher than the Colorado span. Dozens of newer bridges, most of them Chinese too, have since passed bo...

Q 05/05

Which river, the sixth-longest in the United States, flows 955 feet beneath the Royal Gorge Bridge?

A) Arkansas

B) Colorado

C) South Platte

D) Gunnison

Answer · why

A) Arkansas

The Arkansas carved the gorge over roughly three million years, cutting down as the Rockies rose. Early explorers called the result the Grand Canyon o...