Stanislaus County, California Bridges: Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek (3)

September 2014 (37.63722 Degrees, -120.98375 Degrees) Grand Street Bridge

The Grand Street Bridge is 108 years old and eligible for the National Register of Historic Places. In "Historic Highway Bridges of California" they mention what good condition the bridge is for its age. In fact, the bridge would still be in use if State Route 132 hadn't bypassed it with a new bridge in 1990. We can see the bridge hasn't changed much from a photo taken in 1907 (below).

Stanislaus County, California Bridges: Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Stanislaus County, California Bridges: Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek (2)

September 2014 (37.63722 Degrees, -120.98375 Degrees) Grand Street Bridge

Another view of the Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek. I'm calling it a concrete arch because I'm not sure if it has any reinforcement. We can see the indentations of the thin slats that were used as formwork on the underside of the bridge. The bridge is about 100 ft long but the other side looks farther away, perhaps because the arch is so tall. It's surprising that we're in an industrial area in downtown Modesto. The photo suggests that we are far from civilization.

Stanislaus County, California Bridges: Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Stanislaus County, California Bridges: Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek (1)

September 2014 (37.63722 Degrees, -120.98375 Degrees) Grand Street Bridge

A little upstream from the Mokolumne River in Modesto is Dry Creek and the Grand Street Bridge (38C0323). This is another bridge designed by the prolific John B. Leonard. It's a 103 ft long concrete filled arch that was built in 1906. When I visited, the bridge was closed to traffic. Vehicles were carried on the nearby Yosemite Blvd (SR 192). After over a hundred years the bridge can hopefully be returned to service for pedestrian use.

Stanislaus County, California Bridges: Grand Street Bridge across Dry Creek (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Japan's Bridges: Kofunakoshi Bridge in Miyagi Prefecture

June 2011 (38.502 Degrees, 141.287 Degrees) Kofunakoshi Bridge

Continuing north on the Yamoto Ishinomaki Road (just past the Shin Tenno Bridge) is a hill with a deck arch bridge over the roadway. This bridge connects a neighborhood on each side of the highway. The hill is all by itself in the middle of the plain. Note the crib walls used to support the cut section through the hill. 

Japan's Bridges: Kofunakoshi Bridge in Miyagi Prefecture by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Algeria's Bridges: Le Pont de la Gare across the Rhumel River in Constantine

March 2011 (36.380 deg., 6.605 deg.) Le Pont de la Gare

The last photo that Hadj sent me was of the bridge to the train station (Le Pont de la Gare). Allauoa thought it might also be called El-Kantara.

It must be rough living with a giant ravine going through the middle of your town. I read that the Sidi M'Cid Bridge was built after a hospital was put on one side of the ravine. Apparently, the long ambulance ride around the ravine took too long to save the severely ill and injured.

Most of the bridges in Constantine were built by the French or the Turks. There are more interesting bridges in the city that we still haven't seen. I read that a new cable-stayed bridge by Dissing-Weitling was recently built.  Perhaps Hadj will send us some more bridge photos in the future?

Algeria's Bridges: Le Pont des Chutes across the Rhumel River in Constantine by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.