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    Spanning The Turbulent Waters: Pacific Coast Bridges
    Spanning The Turbulent Waters: Pacific Coast Bridges
    Spanning The Turbulent Waters: Pacific Coast Bridges
    Ebook426 pages47 minutes

    Spanning The Turbulent Waters: Pacific Coast Bridges

    By Marques Vickers

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    About this ebook

    Pacific Coast bridges symbolize a suspended engineering subjugation of hostile topography and inclement weather. Soaring as monumental arches above formerly impassible water bodies, these structurally tiered marvels have embedded themselves organically as creations of sculpture. This edition is a detailed photographic profile of elegance, ornamentation and detail design of 85 spans crossing the Pacific Ocean, coastal rivers, valleys and waterways within California, Oregon and Washington. The edition features accompanying dimensional information along with interesting and relevant historical anecdotes.

    The book’s intent is to display perspective detail, alternative views and pictorial examinations of the artistry and utilitarian construction. Despite the majesty of these enduring architectural icons, few bridge designers have achieved the renown as their urban creative peers.

    Oregon based engineer, Conde McCullough is championed with an essay entitled “Scaling Above the Currents With Elegance” tracing the trajectory of his life and professional career. McCullough is noteworthy for his completion of hundreds of design projects with twelve listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The most traveled of his bridges were completed between the 1919-1936, when he headed the bridge design division of the Oregon Department of Transportation.

    What set McCullough apart from his contemporaries was his insistence that aesthetics must accompany form and function. His art deco and modernist stylings have established his completed works as classics. Creating during an era when automobile predominance had not yet been established, many of his narrow dimension works have become impractical for contemporary traffic loads. The design elements make the inconvenience tolerable.

    Following a two-year sabbatical where he worked designing bridges for the Pan American Highway in Central America, McCullough abruptly retired completely from bridge design at the age of 49. The majority of his iconic Oregon projects are located along the Pacific Coast Highway. The bridge crossing Coos Bay, designed by his department, was renamed the Conde McCullough Memorial Bridge following his sudden death from a stroke in 1946 at the age of 58.

    The architectural development of the Pacific Coast can be credited to an established bridge network, particularly within Northern California, along the Oregon Coastline and Puget Sound. The remaining challenges involve proper maintenance to preserve these steadfast cathedrals of passage.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMarques Vickers
    Release dateNov 12, 2020
    ISBN9781005949921
    Spanning The Turbulent Waters: Pacific Coast Bridges
    Author

    Marques Vickers

    Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions. He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86. Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com. Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography. His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism. He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.

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      Book preview

      Spanning The Turbulent Waters - Marques Vickers

      Benicia-Martinez Bridge (Benicia and Martinez)

      The Benicia-Martinez Bridge references three parallel bridges spanning the Sacramento River and Carquinez Strait, just west of Suisun Bay. The original 1.2-mile long and 72 feet wide Warren deck truss bridge was opened in 1962 replacing the last San Francisco Bay Area ferry service. The bridge was rehabilitated with a seismic retrofit in 1991. It is integrated into Interstate 680 and accommodates southbound traffic from Solano County to Contra Costa County. It is composed of seven 526-foot spans with vertical clearance of 138 feet and accommodates four lanes of traffic. Pedestrian and bicycle access are available on this bridge. It was named after George Miller, Jr, a California State Senator between 1948-1969. Daily traffic is estimated at 90,000 vehicles.

      Constructed adjacent is a 1.7 mile bridge that opened in 2007 with five lanes for northbound traffic. This bridge was named after Miller’s son, U.S. Congressman George Miller.

      Between the two bridges is a Union Pacific Railroad Bridge, originally constructed between 1929-1930. The railroad bridge features seven Warren through trusses, one lift truss section and a Pratt deck truss approach. The 1.1 mile long and 30 feet wide span currently accommodates freight and Amtrak passenger trains and is elevated 82 feet above sea level. The bridge replaced the original train ferry between Benicia and Port Costa. The drawbridge has the smallest clearances of the three bridges. The lift span horizontal clearance is 291 feet and vertical clearances are 70 feet (when closed) and 135 feet (when open).

      Blackpoint Bridge (Novato)

      Spanning Sears Point Highway 37 at the border of Marin and Sonoma Counties, the Blackpoint Bridge crosses over the Petaluma River where it feeds into the San Pablo Bay. Constructed in 1958 as a replacement for the original Baltimore through truss bascule design, the current concrete arch bridge is 150 feet long. The original 1917 construction operated with two parallel towers.

      Carquinez Strait Bridge and Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (Vallejo and Crockett)

      The Carquinez Strait Bridge is part of eastbound Interstate 80 crossing over the Sacramento River and connecting southbound Contra Costa County traffic to Solano County. Constructed in 1958, the Cantilevered through truss design is one-mile in length and 52 feet in width. Approximately 60,000 vehicles utilized the bridge daily.

      The original northbound span connecting Solano County to Contra Costa County was replaced in 2003 by a wire suspension bridge 3,500 feet long and 67 feet wide. Named the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge after a recognized twentieth century bridge worker, the newer constructed span accommodates pedestrian and bicycle access.

      Colorado Street Bridge (Pasadena)

      The elevated Colorado Street Bridge was opened in 1913 to replace the diminutive Scoville Bridge located below crossing the Arroyo Seco River. The span is located on the western periphery of Pasadena connecting with Eagle Rock. Shortly after its completion, the Scoville Bridge was washed away by rare floodwaters. The Colorado Street span is designed with distinctive Beaux Arts arches, light standard and railings, the span aesthetically curves so that the design footings are strategically situated on more solid ground. The bridge is 1,486 feet long and raises a maximum of 150 feet at its highest apex.

      Locals rarely call the structure by its official name. Instead it has been labeled Suicide Bridge for tangible reasons since it’s opening. During construction, a worker fell to his death and landed in the wet concrete under the bridge. His accidental plunge was followed by dozens of desperate individuals terminating their lives from deliberate jumps. A surge in fatalities occurred during the Great Depression.

      One of the most repeated suicide related stories involved a mother who tossed her infant off the bridge and then followed with her own leap. The mother plummeted to her death, but the child landed in a tree unharmed.

      Suicide barrier fences have been erected to discourage jumpers. Although credited with preventing some impulsive leaps, every year more fatalities add to the chilling tally. The bridge has been depicted and filmed in numerous movie and television programs along with music videos, but never as a sanctioned source for final departure.

      Eel River Bridge (Rio Dell)

      The Eel River Bridge located in Rio Dell was constructed in 1941 and is 1200 feet in length and 26 feet in width. The cantilevered K type truss bridge spans the Eel River and features pedestrian crossing lanes on both sides. The elevation is 141 feet above sea level and average daily traffic approximately 2,000 vehicles. The bridge is also known as the North Scotia Bridge.

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