Tower Bridge (California)
| Tower Bridge | |
|---|---|
The Tower Bridge just after sunset
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| Coordinates | 38°34′50″N 121°30′30″W / 38.580556°N 121.508333°WCoordinates: 38°34′50″N 121°30′30″W / 38.580556°N 121.508333°W |
| Carries | Cars, pedestrians, and previously railroad on 4 lanes of  SR 275
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| Crosses | Sacramento River |
| Locale | West Sacramento and Sacramento, California |
| Maintained by | Caltrans |
| NBI | 22 0021 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Vertical lift bridge |
| Total length | 737 ft (225 m) |
| Width | 52 ft (16 m) |
| Height | 160 ft (49 m) |
| Longest span | 209 ft (64 m) lift span |
| No. of spans | 8 |
| Piers in water | 2 |
| Clearance below | 100 ft (30 m) above high water |
| History | |
| Architect | Alfred Eichler |
| Constructed by | George Pollock & Company |
| Construction cost | US$994,000 (equivalent to $17,360,000 in 2016) |
| Opened | December 15, 1935 |
| Replaces | |
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Tower Bridge
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| Architect | Alfred Eichler |
| Architectural style | Span Drive Type |
| NRHP Reference # | 82004845 |
| Designated | 1982 |
| References | |
1910 Sacramento Northern Railway swing through-truss bridge
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.
The Tower Bridge replaced the 1911 M Street Bridge in Sacramento, which was originally a swing through-truss railroad bridge. Later, 9-foot (2.7 m) roadway sections were added as cantilevered sections on both sides of the existing rail bridge. Sacramento's population more than doubled between 1910 and 1935, rendering the existing bridge inadequate to handle heavy traffic. In 1933, the city realized that it needed a better crossing over the Sacramento River in case of war.
On December 22, 1933, the State of California, Sacramento County, and the Sacramento Northern Railway held a conference to plan the new bridge, with an agreement reached on March 8, 1934. Under the terms of the agreement, Sacramento Northern Railway relinquished its rights to the 1911 M Street Bridge in return for the rights to rail traffic over the new bridge until March 21, 1960, which was the original expiration date of its franchise to operate rail traffic over the 1911 bridge. Construction commenced on July 20, 1934. Road traffic was diverted to the I Street Bridge, and rail traffic was diverted to a temporary timber-and-steel "shoofly" bridge approximately 75 ft (23 m) of the existing M Street Bridge.
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