It doesn't look like it swings open any more, but maybe someone from Sacramento can comment here and tell us more about that. The bridge looks really really old and I can't imagine that they aren't getting ready to replace it in the very near future. The lower deck carries railroad traffic.I rode the Amtrak over it today.and the upper deck carries vehicular traffic. Just as interesting as this bridge is an old double deck swing bridge just up-stream of this one.maybe two blocks away. Newer gates were installed to close the widened sidewalk during bridge lifts. You can see the original pedestrian safety gates that retract into the side of the guard rail when not in use, but they aren't wide enough to span the new additional sidewalk. Also, the walkway on the outside of the bridge was widened at some point. It's interesting that from a distance the bridge looks like it is painted yellow, but when you get a close look at it you realize that it is painted a beautiful sparkling metalic gold that looks different from every angle you look at it. This has got to be the shortest state route in the state-its length is the length of the bridge and its approaches. So, the current gold color is compatible and at least echoes the Art Deco architecture and original reason for painting the bridge metallic.Īlso, when Caltrans relinquished state Route 275, neither the City of West Sacramento nor Sacramento wanted to take the bridge, so the State still owns it. While the color is a classic Art Deco color, the reason the engineers wanted to paint the bridge silver was to see if inspectors could spot cracks and fissures better than is possible with black bridges. ![]() With the Tower Bridge, the Division of Highways had to get special permission to paint this Art Deco bridge silver. When the bridge was built, bridges typically were painted black. The silver color was part of why the bridge is historic. Interestingly, the contest did not have its original color, silver. The other two colors were to be based on Raley Field baseball colors - non historic and not compatible to the bridge. When it came time to be repainted, Caltrans held a contest to pick the color, one of which was gold. It had been painted gold in 1976 as part of the bicentennial and to match the dome on California's State Capitol. At that time the sidewalks on either side of the bridge were widened from 3 to 10 feet, as part of a "transportation enhancement" project. Tower Bridge, which is listed in the National Register of Historic Places, was most recently rehabilited in 2007-2008 or thereabout. Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9) Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9) NRHP 82004845 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)īH 11746 ( ID) Inspection report (as of June 2017) Overall condition: Good Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on JAlso called Sacramento River Bridge Approximate latitude, longitude +38.58000, -121.50667 (decimal degrees)ģ8☃4'48" N, 121☃0'24" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") Approximate UTM coordinates 10/630074/4271227 (zone/easting/northing) Average daily traffic (as of 2013) 12,000 Inventory numbers CA 22-21 (California bridge number) The site is fully accessible to wheelchair-users.īridge lift times are published online. The nearest Tube station is Tower Hill, on the Circle and District Lines, and the Tower Gateway DLR stop is just up the hill.Facts Overview Vertical lift bridge over Sacramento River on CA 275 in West Sacramento Location Sacramento, Yolo County, California, and Sacramento County, California Status Open to traffic History Built 1934 by George Pollock & Company Trolley tracks removed from median and converted to vehiclular lanes in 1963 Builders - Alfred Eichlerĭesign Vertical lift with span drive Dimensions More expensive guided tours and behind-the-scenes tours run at weekends. Tickets to Tower Bridge Exhibition can be booked online up to 50 minutes before your visit and include access to the Towers, West Walkway, Glass Floor and Engine Rooms. On completion, its then-revolutionary steam-driven bascule mechanism could raise the bridge's roadway in three minutes, allowing ships to pass underneath. ![]() Sadly Jones never saw the bridge completed, dying in 1887, a year into its construction.ĭraped with curved suspension struts, the city's most easterly bridge was finished in 1894. Designed by Horace Jones and tweaked by engineer John Wolfe Barry, the bridge was made entirely from British materials, including Glaswegian steel, Portland stone and Cornish granite. London was a thriving port in the 1880s when building work started on Tower Bridge as a much-needed crossing point in the east. Don't miss stepping out on the glass walkway above the Thames and roadway © Christian Mueller / Shutterstock History
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