Sonoma County, California Bridges: D Street Bridge across the Petaluma River

August 2014 (38.23389 Degrees, -122.63583 Degrees) D Street Bridge

Sonoma County seems to have a lot of rolling lift bridges including today's D Street Bridge (20C0048) in the City of Petaluma. This bridge was built in 1933 and rehabilitated twice, with the last repair done in 2009. It's 200 ft long with an 80 ft long movable span. I imagine the counterweight and the tracks must be under the deck.

Sonoma County, California Bridges: D Street Bridge across the Petaluma River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Sonoma County, California Bridges: Wingo Rolling Lift RR Bridge across a Tributary of Sonoma Creek

August 2014 (38.20971 Degrees, -122.42794 Degrees) Wingo Rolling Lift Bridge

A Scherzer rolling lift bridge is a type of bascule bridge that has a pinion in each lever arm that sits on racks on the side span. As the counterweight falls the pinions roll on the racks and raise the bascule span.

I had to walk several miles past a locked gate along the sloughs of Sonoma Creek to get to the Wingo Rolling Lift Railroad Bridge. The tracks carry the trains of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad (NPR) and the wooden boards can carry trucks. The bridge is hand operated with a chain to raise and lower the counterweight. Nautical charts list the bridge as movable and chalk marks on the counterweight indicate the bridge was last raised in 2007. More information on this interesting bridge is available from the Bridgehunter Website.

Sonoma County, California Bridges: Wingo Rolling Lift RR Bridge across a Tributary of Sonoma Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (4)

December 2012 (26.3395 Degrees, -80.0772 Degrees) Camino Real Bridge

To open the bridge, the operator must close the gates and turn on the motors that move the counterweighted ends of the bascule spans into their wells (under the steel plates). The deck of the movable spans are made of steel grating to reduce their weight.

This bridge has several nice details: the concrete ballustrade rails on the approach spans, the ornamented lamp posts, and the Spanish tiles on the operator's house (the houses usually have architectural flourishes that reflect the styles that were in vogue when the bridge was built).

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (4) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (3)

December 2012 (26.3395 Degrees, -80.0772 Degrees) Camino Real Bridge

The Camino Real Bridge is 256.6 ft long with a 115.8 ft wide channel opening. The bridge includes steel girder approach spans, a double leaf bascule span, and fenders to protect the bascule piers.

You can see some deterioration to the bridge in the photo. It appears that the reinforcement on the pier on the right side of the photo has corroded and is causing the concrete to spall. Perhaps the steel pile bent is a later addition to help support the approach span?

There is a posting below the operator's house that the bridge is supposed to open every 20 minutes but it didn't open for the hour I spent at the site. I wonder how active the Intracoastal Waterway is? Perhaps you have to make an appointment with the Coast Guard weeks in advance to travel through this section of the channel. 

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (2)

December 2012 (26.3395 Degrees, -80.0772 Degrees) Camino Real Bridge

It seems like all the bridges across the Intracoastal Waterway are movable (and mostly bascule) bridges. 

The Camino Real Bridge was built in 1939. Architect Addison Mizner wanted to make Camino Real a grand boulevard and planned for a Venetian-style bridge across the Intracoastal. Unfortunately, Mizner's company went bankrupt and the development of Boca Raton was taken over by Clarence H. Geist who built a temporary swing bridge at the site. It was replaced with the current bascule bridge by the Public Works Administration.

The bridge is in poor shape and the County planned to replace it, until they found that it had been listed on the county Registry of Historic Places. A $6 million rehabilitation is now planned for 2013. 

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (1)

December 2012 (26.3395 Degrees, -80.0772 Degrees) Camino Real Bridge

I recently returned from visiting my mom in Florida and so I thought we could take a break from Sierra Nevada Mountain bridges to look at a few bridges that cross the Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway. This channel is made up of natural inlets and human-made canals that provide a protected passage along the southeast US coastline.

The Camino Real Bridge (also called the Boca Club Bridge) is a double-leaf rolling lift type of bascule bridge. This movable bridge was developed by William Scherzer in the 1890s and is still popular. The two leafs roll away from each other as they lift up, reducing the time required to open and close. We'll take a closer look at this bridge tomorrow.

Palm Beach County, Florida Bridges: Camino Real Bridge across the Intracoastal Waterway (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.