Plumas County, California Bridges: Rock Creek Bridges

September 2015 (39.8988 Degrees, -121.3589 Degrees) Rock Creek Bridges

The Union Pacific Railroad and California Route 70 run parallel to each other for about 50 miles along the North Fork of the Feather River. A few miles past the Pulga Bridges (where Rock Creek flows into the North Fork) is another juxtaposition of highway and railway bridges.

The highway bridge (09 0002) is a 330 ft long, three span river crossing with a 180 ft long Parker through truss center span across the North Fork. It was built in 1936 but the substructure was rebuilt on 2000. Those extra long bent caps look like they were built to carry a future widening (see photo below).

The railroad crosses Rock Creek with a steel trestle bridge that includes a Warren truss main span. We are going to see a similar style of adjacent railway and highway bridges as we continue to travel upstream along the Feather River through Plumas County.

Plumas County, California Bridges: Rock Creek Bridges by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Butte County, California Bridges: Poe Powerhouse Bridge across the North Fork of the Feather River

September 2015 (39.7278 Degrees, -121.4684 Degrees) Poe Powerhouse Bridge

Just north of Lake Oroville is the 'Big Bend' and several interesting bridges. Last week we looked at the beautiful Union Pacific North Fork Bridge. Today we're studying the nearby Poe Powerhouse Bridge. I previously mentioned all the dams (and powerhouses) along the North Fork of the Feather River. The only access to some of them are on dilapidated roads and bridges. The Poe Powerhouse is typical. You drive down a gravel road (Bardees Bar Road) full of switchbacks to the river and across an old truss bridge with weight restrictions that takes you to the powerhouse. The Poe Powerhouse consists of transformers and a 890 ft long penstock with a drop of 477 ft that produces 120 megawatts of electricity. The bridge and the powerhouse are owned by Pacific Gas and Power.

The Poe Powerhouse Bridge is 335 ft long with a single, 178 ft long deck truss span across the North Fork of the Feather River. The substructure consists of tapered concrete pier walls. The superstructure supports an 18 ft wide reinforced concrete deck that carries an unnamed road. The road is used by the powerhouse employees and by the occasional kayaker, although the many dams across the river must make kayaking a hassle.

Butte County, California Bridges: Poe Powerhouse Bridge across the North Fork of the Feather River by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.

Butte County, California Bridges: Union Pacific North Fork Bridge

September 2015 (39.716 Degrees,  -121.4705 Degrees) North Fork Bridge

Two big events in the history of the Feather River were the discovery of gold at Bidwell Bar in 1848 and the construction of the Feather River Railroad through the Sierras from 1906 to 1909. The railroad opened up the river for a series of dams starting with the Big Bend Dam in 1908 and culminating in the Oroville Dam in 1968. The building of the Oroville Dam required the Western Pacific Railroad to build a new alignment (and new bridges) from Oroville to Big Bend. The new bridges included the Thermalito Diversion Pool Crossing, the lower deck of the West Branch Bridge that we studied last month, and today's North Branch Bridge.

Railroad bridges can often be purely utilitarian structures but the North Branch Bridge is a happy exception. It's a reinforced concrete bridge composed of three parabolic arch spans supporting wide spandrel pier walls and a concrete deck. At 990 ft long it is one of the longest reinforced concrete railroad bridges in the United States. I wonder what possessed the Western Pacific Railroad to build such a beautiful bridge in the middle of the wilderness?

It seems like we feel more affinity for bridges that were built for a certain mode of travel. The Happy Pontist likes pedestrian bridges because they afford designers more freedom of expression and (perhaps) because people traveling on foot or bicycle seem more positive and friendly. We have less interest in highway bridges because of their cookie cutter appearance and because they carry vehicles with fewer positive connotations. The most passionate group are people who love railroad bridges and the trains they carry. People often line railroad tracks to photograph trains crossing over bridges, especially if they are being pulled by an iconic locomotive (photo by Keith Ardinger shown above). However, only freight trains currently travel along the Feather River Canyon. On rare ocassions 'fan' trains with vintage cars and steam locomotives will cross over the North Fork Bridge (photo shown below by Dave Stanley).

Butte County, California Bridges: Union Pacific North Fork Bridge by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.