Once a jewel of Utah's highway architecture, the Canyon Bridge was lower than the equally famous Highway Bridge, attracting significantly more traffic and frequent use. Today, it remains famous, but for a completely different reason. This bridge has gone down in history as one of the most serious examples of the cost of lies.



It's Friday, April 31, at 1:16 p.m. A report of a supposedly serious accident on the Canyon Bridge arrives at the police station. The caller claims to have heard a huge boom and the sounds of cars colliding. At this point, no one knows that one of the deadliest disasters in modern Utah history has occurred. At 1:25 p.m., 9 minutes after the incident was reported, the first police patrol arrives at the scene. Officer Lorraine Shylock, unaware of the scale of the incident, sees people standing in front of the bridge. She drives ont it and sees the impossible: burning cars lying on a broken section of the bridge and a truck hanging over the edge. She immediately calls for backup.



Over 100 people were involved in the rescue operation, and emergency vehicles were brought in from other counties. As a result of the disaster, six people died and four were injured, three seriously. The operation lasted over 17 hours due to difficult access to the victims. Due to the danger of another section of the bridge collapsing, the truck driver was rescued by helicopter.



Why did this disaster happen? Could it have been prevented? The answer is yes, but it wasn't profitable. The cost of restoring the Canyon Bridge was almost twice the amount planned for its renovation, which is why it was constantly delayed. As the investigation revealed, said renovation wasn't even planned—the public and the media were lied to. The result of these perfidious lies was April 31, 2000.



The bridge remains undemolished to this day, and its remains still lie at the bottom of the canyon. They remain there as a memento and a reminder of the price of lies and greed.



The entire Canyon Autos team would like to offer our sincerest condolences to the families of the victims.

Cost of lies- Canyon Bridge disaster, April 31, 2000