California Bridges
While Bixby Bridge is one of the
most photographed bridges in California, it is likely that neighboring
Big Creek Bridge takes top honors. Traveling north five miles beyond
Lucia on Route 1, you'll see the bridge in the distance and a paved and
often busy parking lot where people are out of their cars looking and taking
photos. You must cross the lane of oncoming traffic (carefully when
it is clear and safe). Located about 40 miles south of Monterey past
Lime Creek State Park, this 500 to 600' (two sources provide different
lengths) long double-arch bridge is one of a series of seven bridges constructed
along Big Sur during the early part of the 20th century.
Built in 1937, California’s Big Creek Bridge—a double-arch
crossing with half-arch side spans—had a seismic retrofit which was
completed in 1999. Challenged by the structure’s unique support system,
which doesn’t rely on abutment foundations, and its fractured rock base,
engineers devised a foundation retrofit that provided the necessary strength
and stiffness via modified tie-down anchors that pass through the alluvium
and into the fractured rock. Irregular rock bands located at depths beyond
the reach of equipment required the use of vertical tie-downs at one pier,
which would hit the rock at higher elevations. Rest assured, you don't
need to hold your breath while passing over this well constructed, reinforced
engineer's delight.
After a retrofit, there was a landslide in 2000 which
caused this section of Route 1 to be closed. It is open now as crews
recently worked to clear the debris and shore up risk areas.
Carved into the hillside of the Santa Lucia Mountains, the
bridge and Highway 1 cut through Big Creek Marine Ecological Reserve. California
Route 1 is a public thoroughfare and major two-lane highway sweeping 100
feet above the mouth of the Big Creek Canyon. One of the world's most scenic
roads which ties coastal cities from Los Angeles to San Francisco passes
through Big Creek region which is closed to the public and operated as
two adjacent reserves under the watchful eye of the University of California's
Natural Reserve System and the University of California Santa Cruz.
Set with the goal of studying wilderness lands and marine
waters, the 4200 acre Landels-Hill Big Creek Reserve and 1200 acre
Big Creek Marine Ecological Reserve, researchers delight in opportunities
to study plants and animals in one of California's most pristine coastal
environments. From a preservationist's perspective, human activities
such as car traffic and highway construction create extreme, long-term
disturbances to reserve habitats.
