Sunday, March 25, 2018

Mendocino County Bridges: Route 271 Bridges across Big Dann and Cedar Creek

2000 (39.84861-123.70222) Cedar Creek Bridge
When State Highway 101 was completed, old State Route 271 was relinquished to the county. However local residents continued to use the Big Dann (10 0030) and Cedar Creek (10 0029) bridges (on 271) to get to and from their homes. The cost to seismically retrofit these big bridges would have been millions of dollars and so the residents agreed to the installation of seismic gates instead. When an earthquake occurs, the ground shaking will close the gates, preventing people from driving onto the bridges.


1 comment:

John said...

I found it quite interesting the use of seismic gates as a retrofit strategy. If I remember correctly, there was a set temporarily installed on the Samoa Bridges in Eureka while the ultimate retrofit was being designed. It is a simple and cost effective means of protecting the public, though not the most convenient for the local populace.