The 1927 span was temporarily used to hold eastbound traffic while the 1958 eastbound span underwent a seismic retrofit, deck and superstructure rehabilitation, and painting to extend its serviceable life. The decision was made to replace it with a new suspension bridge. Route 40, and ultimately Interstate 80.Īfter the Loma Prieta earthquake engineers determined that the aging 1927 span was seismically unstable, and that a retrofit was impossible. With the bridge completed, the Lincoln Highway was realigned to cross the Sacramento River, then proceed southwest through Davis and Vallejo, across the Carquinez Bridge, and along the shores of the San Pablo and San Francisco bays to Richmond and Oakland becoming U.S. The Carquinez Bridge provided a welcome alternative route from the Central Valley to the Bay Area, one that no longer required loading one's vehicle onto and off of a ferry. Once the bridge was built however, driving from Sacramento to the East Bay became much more direct. For decades, building a bridge across the Carquinez Strait was considered prohibitively expensive and technologically risky. This circuitous route, several miles longer, and traversing a rather formidable mountain pass, was preferable to crossing the Carquinez Strait, a deep channel with strong currents and frequent high winds. Route 50 and ultimately Interstates 5, 205, and 580. The preferred option, given the engineering limitations of the day, was to skirt around the Delta by going south from Sacramento through Stockton, then proceeding west across the San Joaquin River and over the Altamont Pass, and finally reaching Oakland from the south a route that would later become U.S. This historic transcontinental roadway's original alignment, like the Transcontinental Railroad that preceded it nearly sixty years earlier, chose to avoid crossing the Carquinez Strait entirely. Upon its completion, the span became part of the Lincoln Highway. It was the first major crossing of the San Francisco Bay and a significant technological achievement in its time. Prior to this, crossing the Carquinez Strait necessitated the use of ferries. The original steel cantilever bridge was designed by Robinson & Steinman and dedicated on May 21, 1927. Ferry service at the site of the bridge started in 1913 by the Rodeo-Vallejo Ferry Company. A train ferry operated between Benicia and Porta Costa from 1879 until 1930 when a rail bridge opened. Auto service started on this route in 1913. The first regular crossing of the Carquinez Strait began in the mid-1800s as a ferry operated between the cities of Benicia and Martinez, six miles upstream from the bridge site. The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge carries southbound traffic from Vallejo to Crockett, and the 1958 cantilever span carries northbound traffic. Later, seismic problems made the 1927 span unsafe in case of an earthquake, and led to the construction, and 2003 opening, of a replacement: a suspension bridge officially named the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, in memory of iron worker Al Zampa, who played an integral role in the construction of numerous San Francisco Bay Area bridges. A second parallel cantilever bridge was completed in 1958 to deal with the increased traffic. The name Carquinez Bridge originally referred to a single cantilever bridge built in 1927, which was part of the direct route between San Francisco and Sacramento. They form the part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California. The Carquinez Bridge is a pair of parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait at the northeastern end of San Francisco Bay. $3.50 (carpool rush hours, FasTrak only).FasTrak or pay-by-plate, cash not accepted.November 11, 2003 19 years ago ( ) (westbound) November 25, 1958 64 years ago ( ) (eastbound) May 21, 1927 96 years ago ( ) (original span)
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |