Vincent Thomas Bridge
| Vincent Thomas Bridge | |
|---|---|
The Vincent Thomas Bridge in 2009
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| Coordinates | 33°44′58″N 118°16′18″W / 33.74944°N 118.27167°WCoordinates: 33°44′58″N 118°16′18″W / 33.74944°N 118.27167°W |
| Carries | 4 lanes of  SR 47
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| Crosses | Los Angeles Harbor |
| Locale | San Pedro, California and Terminal Island |
| Owner | California Department of Transportation |
| Maintained by | Caltrans |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Suspension bridge |
| Total length | 6,060 feet (1,847 m) |
| Width | 52 feet (16 m) (typical) |
| Height | 365 feet (111 m) |
| Longest span | 1,500 feet (457 m) |
| Clearance below | Approximately 185 feet (56 m) |
| History | |
| Opened | November 15, 1963 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 32,000 |
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The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a 1,500-foot (460 m)-long suspension bridge, crossing the Los Angeles Harbor in the U.S. state of California, linking San Pedro, Los Angeles, with Terminal Island. The bridge is part of State Route 47, which is also known as the Seaside Freeway. The bridge opened in 1963 and is named for California Assemblyman Vincent Thomas of San Pedro, who championed its construction. It was the first welded suspension bridge in the United States and is now the fourth longest suspension bridge in California and the 76th longest span in the world. The clear height of the navigation channel is approximately 185 feet (56 m); it is the only suspension bridge in the world supported entirely on piles.
The terminal for ferries and helicopters to Santa Catalina Island is located underneath the western part of the bridge.
Assemblyman Thomas, who represented San Pedro, spent 19 years beginning in 1940 arguing for the 16 different pieces of legislation that were necessary for its construction. During that time and in the years right after it was built, it was ridiculed as "The bridge to nowhere".
Other bridges to the island included the 1948 Commodore Heim lift bridge connecting SR 47 north and a WWII pontoon bridge from Ocean Blvd. to Long Beach (replaced in 1968 by the Gerald Desmond arch bridge). Until the new bridge's 1963 construction, ferry service from San Pedro was important to cannery and shipyard workers on Terminal Island; private ferries had begun in 1870, and municipal ferry service had begun in 1941. Some residents, including many women who worked at the canneries, tried unsuccessfully to keep one of the smaller pedestrian-only ferries operating after the new bridge's opening because the ferry was available at any time including night-shift hours but the new bus service involved long waits.
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