El Dorado County, California's Bridges: State Route 50 across Weber Creek (1)

February 2013 (38.71669 Degrees, -120.8362 Degrees) Weber Creek Bridge

Over the next few days we are going to study several bridges that cross Weber Creek, a 12 mile long tributary of the South Fork of the American River that runs through Diamond Springs, California.

Diamond Springs took part in much of the 19th century development that helped to create California. The wagon route used by the first pioneers went through town as well as the Pony Express and parts of the first Transcontinental Railroad. Today, two major routes go through Diamond Springs, State Route 49 and State Route 50. More information on the history of transportation through Diamond Springs can be found on Wikepedia.

Today's bridge was the original State Route 50 crossing over Weber Creek, just half a mile west of the previously studied Forni Road Bridge (the yellow pushpin in the Google earth photo below). In 1963, parallel, steel girder, four span bridges on multicolumn bents were built beside it, but they left the original bridge (built in 1938) in place. State Route 50 keeps getting more and more traffic as El Dorado County continues to grow and so new lanes are being built, but so far the original bridge has been preserved.

We'll take a closer look at this bridge tomorrow.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: State Route 50 across Weber Creek (1) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: Forni Rd Bridge across Weber Creek (3)

February 2013 (38.714 Degrees, -120.828 Degrees) Forni Road Bridge

Another photo of the underside of the Forni Road Bridge with its flat deck supported by big and baby arch ribs. You can see the outlines of the thin strips of wood used to form the concrete. Apparently, this type of bridge without girders or floor beams was the beginning of a change in structural design. It's in pretty good shape for being almost 100 years old.

I drove back to the Forni Road Bridge today and I was happy to see the broken barrier rail had been repaired. Probably it was a terrible liability and a potential lawsuit to have a bridge under traffic without a barrier. Not that this barrier is even legal. Bridges are supposed to have a New Jersey type barrier that pushes cars back onto the road. Caltrans has spent a lot of time and money trying to make New Jersey barriers with openings at the top so drivers can enjoy ocean views. The driver who hit this barrier was lucky he or she didn't go straight into the river.

A last photo of the repaired bridge somewhat obscured by a lens flare. It's difficult to find a place to stand where you can see the whole bridge and so I'm sometimes forced to face into the sun to take a picture.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: Forni Rd Bridge across Weber Creek (3) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: Forni Rd Bridge across Weber Creek (2)

January 2013 (38.714 Degrees, -120.828 Degrees) Forni Road Bridge

Another photo of Forni Road Bridge over Weber Creek. It's a very simple, pretty bridge with double spandrel columns at each end creating heart-shaped openings above the arch. Unfortunately, someone drove through the concrete barrier the day before I visited, which detracts from its appearance. Note the use of twisted rebar in the photo below. Hopefully the County will quickly repair this 99 year old bridge.

El Dorado County, California's Bridges: Forni Road Bridge across Weber Creek (2) by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.