Alameda County, California Bridges: East Bay Bridge across San Francisco Bay

May 2014 (37.8168 Degrees, -122.3562 Degrees) East Bay Bridge

We've visited the signature span on the new East Bay Bridge on several occasions. Now that all the work has been (almost) completed, the effort is being directed at removing the old truss bridge. Everyone was relieved when they cut the cantilever sections apart and nothing collapsed. My friend Pat Hipley (who is in charge of instrumenting the new bridge) took this photo while working on the bridge last week. 

We are going to spend the next few weeks in Alameda County, which has a variety of different bridges reflecting the diverse populations in Berkeley, Oakland, Alameda Island, Livermore, etc.

Alameda County, California Bridges: East Bay Bridge across San Francisco Bay by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (5)

August 2011 (42.999 Degrees, -82.424 Degrees) Blue Water Bridges

One of my first photos of the Blue Water Bridges was early in the morning while driving from Michigan into Ontario.  River crossings need long viaducts to carry them up and over the shipping channel. This photo is similar to the photo of the Cooper River Bridge from June 14, 2010. They both have colorful flares and very long bridge approaches.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (5) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (4)

August 2011 (42.999 Degrees, -82.424 Degrees) Blue Water Bridges

Returning into the United States in the afternoon, you can see the long, slow line of cars waiting to go through customs. The eastbound bridge is empty. Perhaps Canada is less concerned about border security?

The asphalt pavement looks like it hasn't been replaced in many years. In California, the placement of asphalt on bridges is discouraged since over time you can end up with a foot of asphalt on a bridge that wasn't designed for it.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (4) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (3)

August 2011 (42.999 Degrees, -82.424 Degrees) Blue Water Bridges

The new tied arch bridge was designed by Modjeski and Masters and Buckland and Taylor and completed in 1997. The tied arch was chosen because it closely resembled the existing bridge while having the advantages of less expense and easier construction.

Tied arches are typically brought to the site on floating cranes and set onto the back spans. However, in this case towers were built and supported the main span with cables while it was being assembled.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (2)

March 1990 (42.999 Degrees, -82.424 Degrees) Blue Water Bridge

Until 1997, there was only one Blue Water Bridge. It was a two lane river crossing, built in 1938 by Ralph Modjeski and the state of Michigan with a main span of 871 ft.

Bridge projects are interesting examples of the mutual needs of people that result in the agreements, in the money (through government bonds), in the technical resources, the skilled workers, and eventually in an iconic structural design.

The west approach and the river crossing were designed and build in the US while the eastern approach was build by the province of Ontario. This resulted in the second busiest US-Canadian crossing for goods and materials between the two countries. It's really not much different from the little suspension bridges that Walter Yanez builds in Ecuador to help bring prosperity to the poor farmers needing to bring their goods across the rivers in Ecuador.

The figure below is a nice illustration of how to build a cantilever truss bridge. Like a teeter-totter, each cantilever balances on short piers while they are anchored to huge and rather ugly four-legged back piers.

Courtesy of the State of Michigan

Michigan's Bridges: Blue Water Bridges across the St. Clair River (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Australia's Bridges: Story Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland

March 2011 (-27.463 deg., 153.036 deg.) Story Bridge over the Brisbane River

After the ferry turned around at the Gateway Bridges, we travelled back upstream for about six miles to Central Brisbane and the Story Bridge.

Despite the floods, downtown Brisbane continues to grow. It's the third largest city in Australia and its also a very nice place to live or to visit. Just as the Harbour Bridge dominates the waterfront in Sydney, the Story Bridge seems equally prominent on Brisbane's waterfront. 

This bridge has a steel cantilever through truss, which used to be popular for spans of around 1000 ft (the Story Bridge has a 925 ft center span). We don't build this kind of bridge anymore in California but we still have plenty of them that need maintenance and repair. The reinforced concrete tower bases are nicely proportioned and painted white, which is a nice touch.


Construction on the bridge began in 1935 (during the Depression), it was completed in 1940, and helped ease congestion in Central Brisbane. The bridge (as is usually the case) was named after a politician who was instrumental in getting the project funded.

Australia's Bridges: Story Bridge across the Brisbane River in Queensland by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.

Vancouver's Bridges: Granville Street Bridge

Crossing False Creek a quarter mile east of the Burrard Street Bridge is the Granville Street Bridge.  It was opened in 1954 and was the third bridge at this location. To make up for the deficiencies in capacity of the Burrard Street Bridge, this bridge was built (by the City of Vancouver) with eight traffic lanes at a cost of $16.5 million.

Granville Street Bridge is a cantilever deck truss with long approaches at both ends that carry Highway 99 over city streets and Granville Island. The bridge provides 27.4 m (90 ft) of vertical clearance over False Creek. It carries vehicles, cyclists, and pedestrians. The cantilever truss is supported on large concrete caissons while the approaches are supported on two column concrete piers.

Vancouver's Bridges: Granville Street Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Oregon's Bridges: Coos Bay Bridge

As we continue our study of bridges along Oregon's coast, we come to the Coos Bay Bridge twenty miles south of the Umpqua River Bridge. It's amazing that the state of Oregon was able to build five long span bridges along it's coast in a single year and build a highway between California and Washington State in about a decade. In one fell swoop, people were able to drive along the coast from San Francisco to Seattle. I wonder how the money, material, and labor became available to get so many handsome bridges built in such a short time?

The Coos Bay Bridge (also called the McCullough Memorial Bridge) is a steel, cantilever truss bridge with a 793 ft main span, 458 ft long side spans, and thirteen reinforced concrete arch approach spans for a total length of 5305 ft. The steel truss segment was designed with curved top and bottom chords to match the arches of the concrete approach spans. It was the largest of the five bridges built as part of the Oregon Coast Bridges Project and cost slightly over $2 million in 1936.

Oregon's Bridges: Coos Bay Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Portland's Bridges: Bridge of the Gods (2)

Although the current Bridge of the Gods isn't as dramatic as the original land bridge, it still makes an attractive statement across the Columbia River Gorge. This bridge is an important link for hikers on the Pacific Crest Trail. It costs pedestrians 50 cents to cross this toll bridge with two traffic lanes, no sidewalks, and narrow shoulders. The toll booth remains open 24 hours a day for emergency vehicles needing access between Oregon and Washington State. Its the third oldest bridge across the river.

In 1920, the US War Department gave the Interstate Construction Corporation a permit to build the bridge but progress was so slow that in 1926 they sold the permit to the Wauna Toll Bridge Company for $600,000. When completed, the balanced cantilever truss bridge had a main span of 708 ft with anchor arms of 212 ft. The total bridge length including approach spans was 1858 ft with a width of 35 ft. This bridge was 91 ft above the river and had a wooden deck.

When the Bonneville Dam was completed in 1938, the bridge was raised 44 ft to prevent it from being inundated when the reservoir became full. This project was completed in 1940 for $760,000. In the photo it looks like the truss was put on falsework, the concrete pier walls were raised 40 ft, and the superstructure was lifted onto the raised piers.

The bridge changed ownership several times after the dam was built. Today, the bridge is owned and operated by the Port of Cascade Locks. In 1966, a second bond of $300,000 was used to rehabilitate the bridge. At some point the wooden deck was replaced perhaps by a steel deck covered with asphalt. Revenues from tolls pay for maintenance, painting, inspections, and bond repayment. The total cost of the bridge including construction, lifting, and rehabilitation was a few million dollars. It would probably cost $30 million to build this bridge today.

There is an excellent website by the current owners that provides more information and photos of the bridge.

Portland's Bridges: Bridge of the Gods (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Portland's Bridges: Bridge of the Gods

Yesterday we looked at bridges that evoke spiritual thoughts and so by coincidence (or by divine providence) our next river crossing is called the Bridge of the Gods. Its about 40 miles east of St. Johns Bridge across the Columbia River and behind Bonneville Dam.

Flying over the area on a day with low clouds can be a spectacular experience because Mt. Hood, Mt. Adams, Mt. St. Helens, and Mt. Ranier all stick their heads out of the clouds like huge gods. At least that's what Native American legend teaches. A thousand years ago, a land bridge crossed the Columbia River and these gods were fighting so violently, that the bridge was eventually destroyed. Like most legends, this story has more than a grain of truth. The constant volcanic eruptions and earthquakes in the area may well have destroyed the original Bridge of the Gods.

Today, a human-made bridge is where the Bridge of the Gods once stood. It's a steel, cantilever truss with a 706 ft main span. It was built in 1926 by the Wauna Toll Bridge Company of Walla Walla. It was originally 1127 ft in length, but after the dam was built, the bridge was raised and lengthened to 1856 ft to avoid the encroaching waters.

We'll take another look at this interesting structure tomorrow.

Portland's Bridges: Bridge of the Gods by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.