Calaveras County, California Bridges: Main Street Bridge across San Andreas Creek

April 2013 (38.19778 Degrees, -120.68000 Degrees) San Andreas Creek Bridge

State Route 12 turns into State Route 49 as we continued southeast into the old gold mining town (and county seat) of San Andreas. There are several old bridges in town, including the Main Street Bridge (30C0026) across San Andreas Creek. It is a 30 ft long, closed spandrel arch.

The bridge is just wide enough for two traffic lanes and so at some point they hung a walkway outside of the west barrier.

Unlike the other gold mining towns we've visited to the north, San Andreas (and Calaveras County) have a pleasant Mexican ambience. Most of the place names are Spanish (San Andreas was settled by Mexican gold miners) and many of the old bridges have a Spanish Colonial aesthetic.

Calaveras County, California Bridges: Main Street Bridge across San Andreas Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 49 across Murray Creek

April 2013 (38.20778 Degrees, -120.69722 Degrees) Murray Creek Bridge

Continuing east on State Route 12 we arrived at State Route 49 and the Murray Creek Bridge (30 0030). This is a three span reinforced concrete T girder bridge on rectangular pier walls and diaphragm abutments that was built in 1963. The bridge is 109 ft long and 35 ft wide. The bridge carries 4700 vehicles a day and has a sufficiency rating of 96.9.

 I've noticed that the older reinforced concrete bridges have a beige color while the newer bridges are more grey. Probably it depends on the color of sand in the concrete (and whether the bridge is in strong sunlight or shadow).

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 49 across Murray Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 12 across the North Fork of Calaveras Creek

April 2013 (38.20667 Degrees, -120.71083 Degrees) State Route 12 Bridge

Continuing east on State Route 12 we arrived at a handsome six span haunched T girder bridge across the North Fork of the Calaveras River (30 0007). The bridge is 300 ft long, 33 ft wide, and on a 39 degree skew. It was built in 1938, carries 5800 vehicles a day, and has a sufficiency rating of 73.7.

The bridge sits on big pier walls and has expansion joints at the end and the middle of the bridge. Its a two lane bridge covered in asphalt.

Calaveras County, California Bridges: State Route 12 across the North Fork of Calaveras Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 United States License.