Carquinez Bridge

38.060833333333 - 122.22583333333Koordinaten: 38 ° 3 ' 39 " N, 122 ° 13' 33 " W

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Carquinez Strait

The Carquinez Bridge is a section of Interstate 80 in California. It crosses the Carquinez Strait between Vallejo and Crockett, thus enabling a direct road link between Sacramento and Oakland and San Francisco. The name refers today to a cantilever bridge and a parallel suspension bridge. The original Carquinez Bridge was the first major bridge in the Bay Area.

History

Before the construction of the bridge, the land connection resulted in a great bow of Sacramento first south on Stockton, then west on Tracy and the Altamont Pass in the Diablo Range to Livermore and on to the Bay Area to finally arrive from the south to Oakland. Aven Hanford and Oscar Klatt opened in 1917 a ferry across the Carquinez Strait and shortened the way, up 60 km to only 130 km away. The ferry was carrying 400,000 vehicles in 1922 already.

First Cantilever Bridge (1927 )

Due to increased traffic founded the American Toll Bridge Company to build the Carquinez Bridge, the operator of the ferry in 1922. The design was created by Robinson & Steinman. Construction began in April 1923. Alfred Zampa This bridge began in 1925 his long career as a bridge construction worker, after which the suspension bridge opened in 2003 and is named.

The first Carquinez Bridge was opened on 21 May 1927. She had two lanes and sidewalks on both sides. The costs amounted to 8 million dollars. It was the first major bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area, and the largest west of the Mississippi. After its completion, and the Lincoln Highway was passed over the bridge.

It was a cantilever bridge with Gerber carriers whose broad middle pillar of steel framework was based on foundations in the middle of the Carquinez Strait. She had two boxes with spans of 335 m (1100 ft) and each with a suspended beam of 132 m length. The inside dimensions of betgrug 45 m (148 ft). It was the first bridge, were considered in the earthquake in planning.

In the year after its opening, over 1 million vehicles crossed the bridge, in 1955 there were already 10 million vehicles. After the opening of the second bridge their sidewalks were removed and set the road for three narrow lanes.

Second Cantilever Bridge (1958 )

1958 a very similar bridge was parallel to the existing 60 m upstream built to cope with the sharp rise in traffic can. The original bridge was operating the traffic towards the south, the new bridge was intended for traffic heading north. The new bridge also has two main spans of 335 meters, but was designed from the beginning to three lanes and sidewalks. It was not riveted as the original bridge, but welded.

After the opening of the new suspension bridge, the sidewalks were removed and designed the road to four lanes without demarcation lines that are running down just to the north. At the same time the earthquake safety of the bridge has been strengthened. On the north side of the bridge there is a toll booth.

Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (2003)

In November 2003, downriver a new suspension bridge was opened, which replaced the original bridge built in 1927. This bridge was Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, named after a steel worker who had worked on many bridges in the San Francisco Bay, including the original bridge. He was one of the few people who survived a fall from the Golden Gate Bridge.

The bridge has four lanes, a security strip on both sides of the road and a separate, 3.60 m wide pedestrian and bike path on the western side, which was opened in May 2004. Traffic on the suspension bridge only runs southward and is toll-free.

The new bridge is the first suspension bridge in the United States, which has been built since the Verrazano-Narrows Bridge opened in 1964. It is also the first suspension bridge in the United States, which was built with concrete pylons and a flat, aerodynamically shaped steel plate girder. It was built from prefabricated segments in Japan, which were lifted directly from the transport ship into position and welded as track support.

The suspension bridge has a main span with a span of 728 m and side openings with spans of 147 m and 181 m. The pylons are 125 meters high above the water.

The bridge is located just a few kilometers away from a geological fault and therefore had to be planned accordingly. She was ranked in the established by Caltrans earthquake categories as an important bridge that no loss of capacity and only minor damage suffered in the frequent earthquakes that need to be repaired immediately, and the earthquakes occurring in rare also no loss of capacity and only damage suffered by that without substantial interference with traffic can be rapariert.

Dismantling of the original bridge

After the opening of the road was a long time about the new suspension bridge and directed the original ( of 1927 ) Bridge to make the bridge from 1958 earthquake-proof. After completing this work, the original bridge was begun with the demolition, which was completed on September 4, 2007.