The new Yellowstone River Bridge on the Northeast Entrance Road near Tower Junction in Yellowstone National Park is going to be more than twice as high as the old bridge built in 1963, giving visitors more than a few fits of acrophobia as well as an amazing view of the spectacular river valley. When finished, the almost 1,200-foot-long bridge will stand 162-feet high from the rushing water below, yet won’t come close to competing for the highest bridge in Wyoming.

That designation has and remains the Sunlight Creek Bridge, which stands 285.4 feet above Sunlight Gorge along the Chief Joseph Scenic Byway. The two bridges are about 90 minutes apart, depending on bison jams and future construction on the roads between the two.

The Yellowstone River Bridge will be 1,285 feet long, 162 feet high. The steel girder bridge will have drilled shafts, concrete decking, sidewalks and railing. According to the Federal Highway Administration, it is located within a hydrothermally and geothermally active zone with multiple gas vents observed along the river’s edge and will require sulfate resistant cement and thermal monitoring of below grade concrete curing.

The existing Northeast Entrance Road will be obliterated and regraded. Regrading includes restoration of Lost Creek to its natural creek channel and hydraulic system, aquatic, riparian and upland areas using living and nonliving plant materials, wetlands to pre-1960s conditions, and the installation of a new fish barrier.

The intersection at Tower Junction will be relocated 700 feet southeast of its current location. Approximately 1 mile of the Northeast Entrance Road will be realigned and nearly 0.5 miles of the Grand Loop Road will be reconstructed. Crews will also modernize 3.5 miles of roadway, pullouts and other necessary support facilities.

Over a dozen options were considered, and park management chose to build the new bridge upstream of the existing bridge on a brand-new alignment. The existing bridge is approximately 604 feet long and 70 feet high, according to the National Park Service.

The nation’s highest bridge is the Royal Gorge Bridge, which crosses the Arkansas River in Colorado and is 955 feet high. The Sunlight Bridge ranks as the 27th highest in the U.S. The Yellowstone River Bridge will fall just outside the top 100 bridges in the nation at No. 102 when it is finished in 2026.

The bridge has a budget of $134 million and is funded by the Great American Outdoors Act Legacy Restoration Fund.