In 1929, about four years before construction of the Golden Gate suspension bridge was begun, the McPhaul suspension bridge was built to replace the historic Antelope Hill bridge which was part of the Arizona part of the then Ocean to Ocean Highway.

As an integral part of the former Ocean-to-Ocean highway (O2O hwy) across southern Arizona, the bridge built over the Gila River between 1914-1915 and opened in August 1915 was called the Antelope Hill bridge (32.7143432, -114.01333386) which continued to carry traffic until bypassed in about 1922 and then was finally abandoned in 1929 upon the completion of the McPhaul suspension bridge. The Antelope Hill bridge and the original O2O hwy were bypassed mainly due to damage caused by flooding along the river floodplain it was built upon.

The Antelope Hill bridge was partly rebuilt in 1917 and 1918 after the devastating 1916 flood washed away the northern approach of the bridge. However, washouts and destruction of the bridge was common due to its placement on a weak soil area in the river floodplain. Particularly large floods occurred in both 1919 and 1920, which led the Arizona highway department to reroute the O2O hwy completely, which led to the abandonment of the Antelope Hill bridge in 1929.

The ruins of the old Antelope Hill Bridge as well as the McPhaul are both listed on the National Register of Historic Places. The Antelope Hill Bridge and route of the O2O hwy also carried several other auto trails during tat era, such as the: Dixie Overland Highway, the Bankhead Highway and the Old Spanish Trail Auto Route.

The McPhaul Suspension Bridge, now called by the locals, The Bridge to Nowhere, carried the north/south highway traffic from Yuma to points north load until the Fortuna Wash Bridge replaced it in 1968.

When this bridge was built, it was named in honor of Henry H. McPhaul, who was the only Yuma resident that ever became an Arizona Ranger. Some time later, it was considered too flimsy for modern traffic, so, when a dam upstream of the bridge was built and diverted the river, the highway was rerouted over a new somewhat smaller bridge. However, this new bridge failed during the 1993 Gila river flood and was destroyed. leaving the Bridge to Nowhere still standing firm. Part of a larger US 95 corridor widening and reconstruction project, the Fortuna Wash Bridge construction began in 2011; was completed by the fall of 2022 and subsequently has taken all traffic from the McPhaul suspension bridge which then resulted in the permanent closing of that suspension bridge.

The current operational status of the McPhaul suspension bridge is Closed to Vehicular Traffic. Weather or not Foot Traffic is allowed on the bridge is unknown.

Located on old extension of US 95 across the Gila River 16 miles east of Yuma, AZ.

I-8 exit 12. North on Fortuna Rd for 2 miles, then north on US 95 for almost 5 miles.

You can easily see its towers off to the west of current US 95 highway.

Dome, Arizona is currently a ghost town

with cast steel cable cradles and

ridged Warren pony stiffening trusses.

US 95 traveses from Mexico border in Arizon to Canada border in Idaho.

$2.28 Million in 2019