Manning-Rye Covered Bridge

The Manning-Rye Covered Bridge, spanning the Palouse River near Colfax, Washington, was built around 1918. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.[1] It has also been known as the Harpole Bridge.

Manning-Rye Covered Bridge
U.S. National Register of Historic Places
Location	Spans Palouse River, Colfax, Washington
Coordinates	46.928388°N 117.415340°W / 46.928388; -117.415340 (Manning-Rye Covered Bridge)
Area	less than one acre
Built	c.1918
Built by	Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad
MPS	Historic Bridges/Tunnels in Washington State TR
NRHP reference No.	82004307[1]
Added to NRHP	July 16, 1982

It was a work of the Spokane & Inland Empire Railroad, an interurban electric railroad.

Its "timber housing protects a single span timber Howe truss which rests on timber pile abutments, encased with timber cribs." Although it is deemed a covered bridge, the top of the bridge was left uncovered to allow for connection between the locomotive and the overhead electric lines.[2]

The bridge came into ownership of the Great Northern Railroad, and was used as a railroad bridge until 1967. It was purchased in 1969 by a private owner who replaced rails by wooden planking and used it for automobile access to their property.[2]

It was located one mile from County Route 4, in the vicinity of Colfax, in Whitman County, Washington.

The bridge was destroyed on September 7, 2020, by the Manning Fire, a wildfire that was started by a downed electric transmission line.[3]