Home > California > Crescent%2BCity%2Bvicinity > Smith River Bridge, CA State Highway 199 Spanning Smith River, Crescent City, Del Norte County, CA
See 45 maps of this locationB&W Photos
No images were found.
Data Pages
No images were found.
Photo Caption Pages
No images were found.
Item Title
Smith River Bridge, CA State Highway 199 Spanning Smith River, Crescent City, Del Norte County, CA
LocationCA State Highway 199 Spanning Smith River,
Crescent%2BCity%2Bvicinity, CA
Find maps of Crescent%2BCity%2B, CA
Created/Published
Documentation compiled after 1968.
Notes
Survey number HAER CA-75
Building/structure dates:
1929 initial construction
Building/structure dates:
1989 demolished
Significance: The Smith River Bridge was a rare California example of the cantilever highway truss bridge, a bridge type that enjoyed brief popularity during the decade spanning the late 1920s to the late 1930s. Because the type was best suited to specialized applications, only limited numbers were built in the State. Indeed, there are only seven remaining, following removal of the Smith River Bridge. The Smith River Bridge was the first cantilever bridge design executed by State Highway engineers, and likely was influenced by D.B. Steinman's Carquinez Bridge (1923-27).
Collection
Historic American Engineering Record (Library of Congress)
Contents
Photograph caption(s):
1. CONTEXTUAL VIEW OF BRIDGE IN SETTING, LOOKING SOUTHWEST, FROM DOWNSTREAM. Crew, vehicles, boats, and equipment are from the California Department of Transportation's Transportation Laboratory conducting test borings for the replacement bridge.
2. CONTEXTUAL VIEW OF BRIDGE IN SETTING, LOOKING NORTHEAST, FROM UPSTREAM
3. VIEW OF DOWNSTREAM ELEVATION, LOOKING SOUTHWEST
4. OBLIQUE VIEW OF UPSTREAM ELEVATION, LOOKING NORTH
5. APPROACH VIEW FROM CRESCENT CITY (SOUTH) END OF BRIDGE, LOOKING SOUTHEAST. Emergency bracing under collapsed cantilever tower visible inside trusses.
6. APPROACH VIEW FROM OREGON (NORTH) END OF BRIDGE, LOOKING NORTHWEST
7. OBLIQUE VIEW OF NORTH PORTAL AND DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF BRIDGE, LOOKING WEST. Lights and illuminated sign on portal bracing were elements of an overheight load warning system designed to eliminate accidents of the type which damaged the bridge. However, the system was in place only on the north side of the bridge, controlling trucks approaching from Oregon. In theory, trucks with overheight, overwidth, or overweight loads from California would be controlled by the State's permit system. In fact, it was a 'permit' load originating in California, being hauled without the requisite permit which struck and damaged the bridge.
8. OBLIQUE VIEW OF DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF BRIDGE, LOOKING WEST
9. VIEW, LOOKING SOUTHEAST, ALONG CENTERLINE FROM SOUTH CANTILEVER TOWER. Note emergency bracing installed beneath collapsed tower, and crumpled vertical members at right and left.
10. VIEW, LOOKING NORTHWEST, ALONG CENTERLINE FROM SOUTH CANTILEVER TOWER, BACK TO SOUTH PORTAL. Note emergency bracing and crumpled vertical members.
11. VIEW, LOOKING SOUTHEAST, ALONG CENTERLINE FROM SOUTH CANTILEVER TOWARD TOWARD NORTH PORTAL. Note vertical displacement in deck caused by partial collapse at point of connection between south cantilever arm and suspended span.
12. VIEW, LOOKING NORTHWEST, ALONG CENTERLINE FROM NORTH CANTILEVER TOWER TOWARD SOUTH PORTAL. As with previous photo, note vertical displacement in deck.
13. VIEW OF UNDERSIDE OF BRIDGE FROM NORTH PIER, LOOKING NORTHWEST
14. DETAIL VIEW OF NORTH PIER, LOOKING SOUTH
15. DETAIL VIEW OF NORTH PIER CAP AND BEARING, LOOKING NORTHWEST
16. DETAIL VIEW OF BEARING ON NORTH ABUTMENT, LOOKING SOUTH
17. DETAIL VIEW OF TYPICAL GUSSET PLATE ON DOWNSTREAM SIDE OF BRIDGE, LOOKING SOUTHWEST
18. DETAIL VIEW OF BUCKLED VERTICAL MEMBER ON UPSTREAM TRUSS AT SOUTH CANTILEVER TOWER, LOOKING SOUTH
19. LAYOUT, dated March 7, 1928, revised April 23, 1928.
20. CANTILEVER SPAN DIAGRAM, dated March 7, 1928, revised April 11, 1928.
21. TRUSS DETAILS FOR CANTILEVER SPAN, dated April 26, 1928.
22. TRUSS DETAILS FOR CANTILEVER SPAN, dated April 26, 1928.
23. CANTILEVER SPAN - TRUSS DETAILS, dated April 26, 1928.
24. TRUSS DETAILS - SUSPENDED SPAN, dated April 26, 1928.
25. ANCHORAGE AND TOWER SUPPORT DETAILS, dated March 7, 1928, revised April 11, 1928.
26. DETAIL OF PIERS, dated March 7, 1928.
27. DETAIL OF ABUTMENTS, dated March 7, 928, revised April 11, 1928.
Back to Crescent%2BCity%2Bvicinity, California
Cart