Bixby Creek Bridge

Being the bridgie I am, we had to stop and spend some time at the Bixby Creek Bridge. Here's the details on the bridge, ripped from Wikipedia:

 

"Bixby Creek Bridge is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge in Big Sur, California. It is located 120 miles (190 km) south of San Francisco and 13 miles (21 km) south of Carmel in Monterey County along California Highway One.

 

It is 714 feet (218 m) long, 24 feet (7.3 m) wide, over 280 feet (85 m) high and has a main span of 320 feet (98 m). It is “one of the most photographed features on the West Coast” because of its location along the scenic Central Coast of California, and has frequently been used in automobile commercials.

 

Bixby Creek Bridge is important historically because it introduced automobile travel to Big Sur, connecting the remote coastal towns to each other. The construction of the bridge began on August 24, 1931 and was completed on October 15, 1932. Before the bridge was opened on November 27, 1932, coastal travelers endured rough wagon roads over precipitous ridges and valleys. The 30-mile (48 km) journey from Monterey to the Big Sur River valley could take three days round trip.

 

The bridge was retrofitted in 1996 by bridge engineering company Buckland & Taylor as part of the Caltrans Phase II seismic retrofit program."

 

1,074 views
1 fave
2 comments
Uploaded on August 31, 2008
Taken on July 21, 2008