Wil-Cox Bridge

The Wil-Cox Bridge is a historic concrete arch pedestrian bridge spanning the Yadkin River between Rowan and Davidson counties in North Carolina. The bridge formerly carried two lanes of US 29/US 70/NC 150, but is now part of the Davidson County Greenway system.The bridge was completed in 1924 at a cost of $212,000, is 20ft, and consists of seven open spandrel arch spans. The Wil-Cox Bridge, named for highway commissioners W.E. Wilkinson of Charlotte and Elwood Cox of High Point, is one of only six of its type built in the state, and at 1299ft the longest.A steel girder bridge built in 1951 as a companion to the Wil-Cox Bridge carried the northbound US 29 lanes and eastbound US 70 lanes but was closed in 2012. A pair of bridges on neighboring Interstate 85 (I-85) went up in 1957 and were replaced by a new pair of bridges in 2012.As of 2001, the city of Salisbury wanted to see the Wil-Cox Bridge preserved. When the 1951 US 29/US 70 bridge is replaced, this bridge will no longer be used for traffic. Until early 2009, the state was planning to demolish the bridge, but preservationists wanted it saved as a pedestrian bridge, "a regional historical artifact" to become part of a planned greenway system. Davidson County decided to consider taking ownership and responsibility for maintenance, with the state giving the county the $2.5 million estimated cost of demolition. In March 2010, Davidson County voted to take the bridge, though one opponent pointed out that preserving the bridge would be more of a tourism advantage to Rowan County, which did not want the bridge. Tourist attractions in the area included Trading Ford and the former site of the Civil War fort Camp Yadkin, also called Fort York, where General George Stoneman crossed the Yadkin River and the location of one of the final military actions of the Civil War.