Friday, May 31, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges; Gardner Lane UC

May 2013 (38.08639 Degrees, -120.55417 Degrees) Gardner Lane UC
The westernmost bridge on the Angels Camp Bypass is squatter and less dramatic than its sisters. However, the bridge's shortness gives us an opportunity to see the isolation at the top of the column flares designed to make the columns act as if they were prismatic. Also, we can see all the rocks scattered around the bridge embankments, which is strange since this is not a river crossing.

The Gardner Lane Undercrossing is a three span prestressed concrete box girder bridge. It is 288 ft long with a 115 ft long center span. Like all the bridges carrying the Bypass, it was built in 2009.
Today, I asked Kevin Keady (the Project Engineer) if the Angels Camp Bypass Bridges were cast-in-place or segmental and he agreed they were cast-in-place.
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Thursday, May 30, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Murphys Grade Road UC

May 2013 (38.08417 Degrees, -120.54333 Degrees) Murphys Grade Road UC
Today's photo shows Murphys Grade Road UC (30 0054) with the Penstock Bridge behind it. Murphys is a very charming old mining town and the road under the bridge goes there. The bridge is another cast-in-place prestressed concrete box girder structure. The National Bridge Inventory calls it a segmental box girder, but I doubt if it was segmentally constructed. It looks like it was built on forms supported on falsework.
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Wednesday, May 29, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 4 across Penstock Viaduct

May 2013 (38.07889 Degrees, -120.52722 Degrees) Penstock Bridge
Continuing west on the Angels Camp Bypass we come to the Penstock Bridge (30 0055) with the penstock on the ground between the piers. It's a four span cast-in-place prestressed concrete box girder bridge as shown in the plan drawing below. The bridge was drawn in 'metric' during the brief period before we decided we preferred US units. The bridge is 548 ft long with two 166 ft long center spans.
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Tuesday, May 28, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Angels Camp Bypass across Angels Creek (2)

May 2013 (38.07889 Degrees, -120.52722 Degrees) Angels Creek Bridge
Another view of Angels Creek Bridge, which is part of the Angels Camp Bypass. It's a three span bridge on single column bents and seat-type abutments. Note the two-way flares at the top of the columns. Also, the facing stones on the outside of the barrier railing. Today, each highway project must have a visual theme. For instance, we saw that all of the bridges in the Amador City Bypass had a similar appearance.

This new highway carries about 10,000 vehicles a day.
In the Google Earth photo above, we can see the road that runs alongside of the creek. On the left side of the photo is another Angels Creek Bridge (on the old Rolleri Bypass Road). I tried to walk along the road to photograph this bridge but it was blocked by a locked gate.
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Monday, May 27, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Angels Camp Bypass across Angels Creek (1)

May 2013 (38.07889 Degrees, -120.52722 Degrees) Angels Creek Bridge
Caltrans recently built the SR 4 bypass around Angel Camp similar to the SR 49 bypass around Amador City that we previously studied. Designing bypasses around old towns has become one of the few opportunities for Caltrans engineers to design new bridges.  Today's photo is of the Angels Creek Bridge (30-56), a 510 ft long structure (built in 2009) with a 200 ft long span across Angels Creek. We'll take a closer look at this bridge tomorrow.
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Sunday, May 26, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Pool Station Bridge across Bear Creek

April 2013 (38.09194 Degrees, -120.66389 Degrees) Pool Station Bridge
The last bridge on Pool Station Road is over Bear Creek.

The Pool Station Bridge across Bear Creek (30C0045) is a single span T girder bridge on end diaphragm abutments that was built in 1979. It is 45 ft long and 28 ft wide. The bridge is in good condition with a sufficiency rating of 96.
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Saturday, May 25, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 49 across San Domingo Creek

May 2013 (38.11472 Degrees, -120.61500 Degrees) San Domingo Creek Bridge
Continuing south on State Route 49 we crossed San Domingo Creek. It's odd that San Antonio Creek is shallow under Pool Station Road while San Domingo Creek is shallow under State Route 49. Maybe they misnamed the bridges on Pool Station Road in the National Bridge Inventory?
Like the previous bridge, this is a five span steel girder bridge built in 1934. It's a nice looking bridge with recessed pier walls and old timber barrier rails. Its 152 ft long and 24 ft wide between the curbs.
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Friday, May 24, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 49 Bridge across San Antonio Creek

April 2013 (38.13111 Degrees, -120.63472 Degrees) State Route 49 Bridge
Back on State Route 49 over San Antonio Creek on a five span steel girder bridge. It's interesting that the bridges carrying State Route 49 are 70 years older than the bridges carrying Pool Station Road. The Golden Chain Highway must have been built as the first road through the county while Pool Station Road must be one of the most recent roads through the county.
The State Route 49 Bridge (30 0017) is a 152 ft long five span steel girder bridge on pier walls that was built in 1934. Like all the other SR 49 bridges in Calaveras County it is only 24 ft wide. The bridge is rated fair with a sufficiency rating of 70.5, and cit arries 6500 vehicles a day. Like all the bridges we've looked at in Calaveras County so far it is ineligible for the National Register of Historic Places.
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Thursday, May 23, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Pool Station Road across San Domingo Creek

April 2013 (38.13778 Degrees, -120.66278 Degrees) Pool Station Bridge
Continuing south on Pool Station Road we came to the bridge over San Domingo Creek. Like yesterday's bridge, San Domingo is a three span slab bridge on pier walls. However, San Domingo Creek is much deeper and more like a river. It is a 120 ft long three span bridge on a 15 degree skew that was built in 2005.

It's interesting that all these nice new bridges only carry a couple of hundred vehicles a day.
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Wednesday, May 22, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Pool Station Road Bridge across San Antonio Creek

April 2013 (38.14278 Degrees, -120.66194 Degrees) Pool Station Road Bridge
Continuing south on Pool Station Road we crossed several creeks within a few miles of each other.

The San Antonio Creek Bridge is a three span slab bridge on wide pier walls and seat-type abutments. It's 118 ft long, 32 ft wide, on a 15 degree skew, and it was built in 2006.

Its interesting that all these bridges on Pool Road were built in the last few years. Perhaps Pool Road was recently upgraded (or recently built) by the county?

Note all the flood protection around the abutments. Its hard to believe that this little creek could become such a raging torrent!
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Tuesday, May 21, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Pool Station Road Bridge across Calaveritas Creek

April 2013 (38.16278 Degrees, -120.67278 Degrees) Pool Station Road Bridge
Pool Station Road is a mile west and parallel to State Route 49 through this part of Calaveras County. Calaveritas Creek continues west of State Route 49 and crosses under this cast-in-place single span box girder bridge.

The Pool Station Road Bridge (30C0035) is a 76 ft long structure on end diaphragm abutments that was built in 2001. The bridge is just south of some abandoned cement silos. However, a prosperous cement plant (owned by Lehigh which was formerly Calaveras Cement) is just to the east on Cement Plant Road. Geologists had found several lenses of limestone in the area which have been mined since the 1920s.

Note the little step dam under the bridge to dissipate energy and prevent flooding.
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Monday, May 20, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 49 Bridge across Calaveritas Creek

April 2013 (38.16167 Degrees, -120.64861 Degrees) State Route 49 Bridge
You may have noticed that yesterday's bridge crossed over the approach to another bridge.

Just south of the Calaveras Cement Company Bridge is the State Route 49 Bridge across Calaveritas Creek (30 0016). It's a seven span, 240 ft long reinforced concrete T girder bridge with a 60 ft span over the creek. The bridge was built in 1930 so it was here when they were building the railway bridge. It's only 24 ft wide between the curbs so it is functionally obsolete. They put infill walls between the columns on each side of the creek, which suggests it periodically over-runs its banks.
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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Calaveras Cement Company Underpass

March 2013 (38.16194 Degrees, -120.64972 Degrees) Calaveras Cement Company Underpass
Today's bridge is the most iconic structure in Calaveras County. Its a long timber trestle bridge with a single span T girder frame over State Route 49. The bridge was once part of a railway line that carried the Southern Pacific railroad from Valley Springs to the cement plant south of San Andreas. More information on the cement plant can be found at the Stone Quarries and Beyond Website.
The Calaveras Cement Company Underpass (30 0039Z) has a 40 ft long span over the highway and it was built in 1935. The National Bridge Inventory/Uglybridges Website reports that it currently carries 6950 vehicles a day which seems much too high. That must be the number of vehicles that go under the bridge each day.
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Saturday, May 18, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Calaveritas Road Bridge across Willow Creek

April 2013 (38.17694 Degrees, -120.65000) Willow Creek Bridge
Continuing south from San Andreas on Calaveritas Road to the Willow Creek Bridge (30C0053). It's a 28 ft long single span reinforced concrete T girder bridge. It was built in 1925 and rebuilt in 1962, but it's hard to tell which parts are old or new. For instance, those big concrete blocks behind the concrete barrier look old and are probably from 1926. Perhaps the approaches are from 1962.

 This bridge is in fair condition, has a sufficiency rating of 75, and only carries 100 bridges a dayCreative Commons License
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Friday, May 17, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: California Street Bridge across San Andreas Creek

April 2013 (38.19694 Degrees, -120.67944 Degrees) San Andreas Creek Bridge
The next bridge is called a three span culvert by the National Bridge Inventory. However, to my mind a culvert has some earth between the roof and the roadway, Also, because it's 37 ft long, it's long enough to be called a bridge. I would call it a three span continuous slab bridge on pier walls with cutwaters. The handrail is a little disappointing though.

The California Street Bridge across San Andreas Creek is in the old gold mining town of San Andreas. It was built in 1953, it has a sufficiency rating of 83, and it carries 200 vehicles a day.
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Thursday, May 16, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Main Street Bridge across San Andreas Creek

April 2013 (38.19778 Degrees, -120.68000 Degrees) San Andreas Creek Bridge
State Route 12 turns into State Route 49 as we continued southeast into the old gold mining town (and county seat) of San Andreas. There are several old bridges in town, including the Main Street Bridge (30C0026) across San Andreas Creek. It is a 30 ft long, closed spandrel arch.
The bridge is just wide enough for two traffic lanes and so at some point they hung a walkway outside of the west barrier.
Unlike the other gold mining towns we've visited to the north, San Andreas (and Calaveras County) have a pleasant Mexican ambience. Most of the place names are Spanish (San Andreas was settled by Mexican gold miners) and many of the old bridges have a Spanish Colonial aesthetic.
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Wednesday, May 15, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 49 across Murray Creek

April 2013 (38.20778 Degrees, -120.69722 Degrees) Murray Creek Bridge
Continuing east on State Route 12 we arrived at State Route 49 and the Murray Creek Bridge (30 0030). This is a three span reinforced concrete T girder bridge on rectangular pier walls and diaphragm abutments that was built in 1963. The bridge is 109 ft long and 35 ft wide. The bridge carries 4700 vehicles a day and has a sufficiency rating of 96.9.
 I've noticed that the older reinforced concrete bridges have a beige color while the newer bridges are more grey. Probably it depends on the color of sand in the concrete (and whether the bridge is in strong sunlight or shadow).
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Tuesday, May 14, 2013

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 12 across the North Fork of Calaveras Creek

April 2013 (38.20667 Degrees, -120.71083 Degrees) State Route 12 Bridge
Continuing east on State Route 12 we arrived at a handsome six span haunched T girder bridge across the North Fork of the Calaveras River (30 0007). The bridge is 300 ft long, 33 ft wide, and on a 39 degree skew. It was built in 1938, carries 5800 vehicles a day, and has a sufficiency rating of 73.7.
The bridge sits on big pier walls and has expansion joints at the end and the middle of the bridge. Its a two lane bridge covered in asphalt.
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Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 12 across the North Fork of Calaveras Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.