Los Angeles County, California Bridges: Balboa Boulevard Bridges across the Los Angeles River

August 2009 (34.1796 Degrees, -118.5011 Degrees) Los Angles River Bridges

After traveling about five miles down a concrete-lined channel, the Los Angeles River turns back into a normal river for two miles through Woodley and Balboa Parks. The Balboa Blvd Bridges (53C1095 and 53C1096) are two parallel seven span structures; one with steel girders built in 1941 and one with concrete girders built in 1964. Both bridges were widened in 1996 with sidewalks on both sides. The bridges have pretty columns and barrier rails.

Los Angeles County, California Bridges: Balboa Boulevard Bridges across the Los Angeles River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Hegenberger Road OH across the UPRR (2)

April 1996 (37.75278 Degrees, -122.19583 Degrees) Hegenberger Road OH

The Hegenberger Road Overhead (33C0202) is a five span continuous prestressed concrete T girder bridge, which was built in 1966. It's owned by Alameda County and it goes over the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the Union Pacific Railroad (UPRR), and San Leandro Road. It's 900 ft long with a 290 ft span over BART. It also crosses over an automated rail system to the Oakland Airport and it's next to Oakland Coliseum, which is where the Oakland Athletics play baseball.

I really liked this bridge. I was impressed by how the contractor achieved such a nice striated texture on the concrete and how the different concrete faces catch the light. The shapes of the columns are unusual and make the bridge interesting. An unusual pinned connection was created between the top of the squat columns and the different bent caps.

I took today's photos many years ago with a film camera. When I returned to this bridge last week (for the current series of blogs on the bridges of Alameda County) I was disappointed to find the bridge was undergoing refurbishment (see yesterday's blog). 

After looking on the Internet, I discovereded that the bridge is currently being seismically retrofit. However, it's unfortunate that the designer couldn't find a way to improve the seismic performance without ruining the appearance of this handsome bridge.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Hegenberger Road OH across the UPRR (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Alameda County, California Bridges: Hegenberger Road OH across the UPRR (1)

June 2014 (37.75175 Degrees, -122.19605 Degrees) Hegenberger Road Overhead

Southeast of Alameda Island was a very handsome bridge designed by TY Lin. The Hegenberger Road Overhead celebrates the ability of concrete to take on a myriad of shapes while floating effortlessly in the air (see photo above). Unfortunately, it appears that some rehabilitation work on the bridge has made it far less attractive (see photo below).

Alameda County, California Bridges: Hegenberger Road OH across the UPRR (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Amador County, California Bridges: Cook Road Bridge (26C0048) across Dry Creek (2)

March 2013 (38.32634°, -120.99151°) Cook Road Bridge

The Cook Road Bridge has a high sufficiency rating (98.7) and its status is open, no restriction [A].  This seems strange for a one lane bridge without a curb or much of a barrier. I guess because the bridge serves so few people, two way traffic and a safety rail aren't essential.

I wonder what they are going to do with the previous bridge? Hopefully they'll be able to restore it at the golf course where it currently sits.

Amador County, California Bridges: Cook Road Bridge (26C0048) across Dry Creek (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Amador County, California Bridges: Cook Road Bridge (26C0048) across Dry Creek (1)

March 2013 (38.32634°, -120.99151°) Cook Road Bridge

The Cook Road Bridge over the North Fork of Dry Creek is near the western border of Amador County and it's just east of where several tributaries come together and flow into Sacramento County, eventually joining the Mokelumne River.  The bridge is a two span (160 ft long) continuous prestressed box girder bridge on a single column bent that was built in 1998. It replaced a Pratt truss bridge that stood at this site for over 100 years (since 1895). Many photos of the original truss bridge are available at the Library of Congress Website.

The original bridge was considered of historic importance as the oldest metal truss bridge in California that was built by the San Francisco Bridge Company. Because it is eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places the county didn't just sell the original bridge for scrap metal. I found it sitting a couple of miles away on the edge of a golf course (38.35466°, -120.95880°). Perhaps they are hoping eventually to use it to carry golf carts over a water hazard.

Amador County, California Bridges: Cook Road Bridge (26C0048) across Dry Creek (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.