Towering

The Tower bridge in California, a vertical lift bridge over the Sacramento River. For years it was painted with a silver aluminum paint and people... more

by Marnie Patchett

Title

Towering

Artist

Marnie Patchett

Medium

Photograph

Description

The Tower bridge in California, a vertical lift bridge over the Sacramento River. For years it was painted with a silver aluminum paint and people complained of the glare, it was repainted yellow-ochre as a Bicentennial project in 1976. In 2002 the residents voted for a new color scheme and it was painted Gold.

On December 15, 1935, then-governor Frank Merriam dedicated the bridge, and led the inaugural crossing parade across it. 1000 homing pigeons were released to carry the news throughout California. The first train had crossed the bridge on November 7, 1935.

The Tower Bridge was the first vertical lift bridge in the California Highway System after it was formally accepted by the state on January 11, 1936. The railroad tracks were removed in 1963. With the removal of the tracks, the roadway was restriped for four automobile lanes.


The Tower Bridge is a vertical lift bridge across the Sacramento River, linking West Sacramento in Yolo County to the west, with the capital of California, Sacramento, in Sacramento County to the east. It was previously a part of U.S. Route 40 until that highway was truncated to east of Salt Lake City. The bridge is maintained by the California Department of Transportation as part of State Route 275 and connects West Capitol Avenue and Tower Bridge Gateway in West Sacramento with the Capitol Mall in Sacramento.

In 1982, the Tower Bridge was added to the National Register of Historic Places.

Tower Bridge was initially designed with a 52 ft (16 m) wide roadway with sidewalks, with single lanes for cars flanking a large 13-foot (4.0 m) center lane for trains. The towers are 160 ft (49 m). From east to west, the bridge consists of a 30 ft (9.1 m) long girder span, a 167 ft (51 m) long eastern truss approach span, the 209 ft (64 m) long central lift span, a 193 ft (59 m) long western approach span and four 34 ft (10 m) long girder spans. With the draw up, there is 100 feet (30 m) of vertical clearance above high water with a 172-foot (52 m) wide navigation channel between the timber pier fenders. Although the lift span weighs 1,150 short tons (1,040 t), the use of an equal amount of counterweights (located in each tower) means the span is operated with two relatively small 100-horsepower (75 kW) electric motors.

The bridge style represents a rare use of Streamline Modern architectural styling in a lift bridge, making it an outstanding expression of the social and architectural climate of the period of construction. The lift span towers were sheathed in steel to streamline its appearance. The American Institute of Steel Construction gave the Tower Bridge an honorable mention for its Class B prize bridge award in 1935.

Uploaded

June 5th, 2016