Carquinez Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name = Carquinez Bridge

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caption = The Carquinez Bridge in 2007: (from closest to furthest) a 2003 suspension bridge and the 1958 cantilever bridge
official_name = Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (suspension bridge)
also_known_as = Zampa Bridge, Vallejo Bridge
carries = 8 lanes of I-80, pedestrians and bicycles.
crosses = Carquinez Strait
locale = Crockett, California and Vallejo, California
maint = Caltrans
id = 28+0352 (2003 span), 23+0015L (1927 span), 23+0015R (1958 span)
design = 2 Cantilever bridges and 1 Suspension bridge
mainspan =
length = 0.66 miles (3465 feet / 1056.1 m / 1.06 km)
width =
clearance =
below = 45 meters (148 ft)
traffic =
open = May 21, 1927 (original span)
1958 (eastbound)
November 11, 2003 (westbound)
closed = 2006 (original span)
toll = $4.00 (eastbound) (FasTrak)
map_cue =
map_

map_text =
map_width =
coordinates = coord|38.0608|N|122.2257|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title|format=dms

The Carquinez Bridge refers to two parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait linking Vallejo, California to the north, with Crockett, California to the south. The bridges are signed as part of Interstate 80. Toll is only charged to eastbound traffic.

History and description

The original bridge, a steel cantilever bridge, was designed by Robinson & Steinman and dedicated on May 21, 1927. It cost $8 million to build and was the first major bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area. ["The Barrier Broken" - Vallejo Evening Chronicle, May 21, 1927]

Upon completion of the 1927 bridge, the Lincoln Highway was rerouted over the span. The Lincoln Highway was the first road across America. Its original alignment from Sacramento to San Francisco avoided the un-bridged waterways of the San Francisco Bay and the Sacramento Delta by routing itself through the Altamont Pass and the central valley. With the bridge built, the Sacramento to San Francisco route was realigned in 1928 to pass along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay, then in a northeastern direction.

In 1958, a similar parallel bridge was built alongside the original one to accommodate the ever-increasing traffic. The original 1927 span served westbound traffic while the newer 1958 span served eastbound traffic.

.

By September 4, 2007, all of the original 1927 steel structure had been demolished.

Carquinez Bridge in the media

* The 1927 span of the Carquinez Bridge is featured on a Season 4 episode of "MythBusters" in the Miniature Earthquake Machine segment. This experiment, based upon the researches of Nikola Tesla, employed a small tunable reciprocating mass driver to shake the bridge at its resonance frequency. While not structurally significant, the shaking was felt some distance from the driver.

* An hour-length program, titled Break It Down: "Bridge", documenting the demolition of the 1927 bridge aired on National Geographic Channel, on Thursday November 1st. 2007

* On October 5th 2007 a man jumped off the new convert|156|ft|m|sing=on high bridge. The Coast Guard, Vallejo Police and Fire responded to find him on the breakwater. He survived the fall.

* Many San Francisco gift shops sell International Orange t-shirts featuring a mono-chromatic picture of the new Carquinez suspension span ostensibly as the Golden Gate Bridge - whose use of image is subject to royalties.

References

External links

* [http://www.alzampabridge.com/ AlZampaBridge.com] Official Web site of the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge.
* [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/news_events/exhibits/bridge/ Bridging the Bay] History of the Carquinez Bridge, as well as other bridges.
* [http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/carquinez.htm Caltrans New Carquinez Bridge page]
* [http://www.ironmc.org/ Dick McCabe Jr's Site] - Site written by a union ironworker who worked on the bridge with a journal of the construction progress.
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* [http://channel.nationalgeographic.com/channel/ET/popup/200711012100.html] Break it Down: "Bridge" on National Geographic Channel.
* [http://bata.mtc.ca.gov/bridges/carquinez.htm] Bay Area Toll Authority Bridge Facts on Carquinez Bridge.

Crossings navbox
structure = Crossings
place = Carquinez Strait
bridge = Carquinez Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream = Benicia-Martinez Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream = Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
downstream signs =