Noyo River Bridge
The Noyo River Bridge is a box girder bridge constructed of prestressed concrete crossing the Noyo River in Fort Bragg, California.[2] Owned and maintained by the California Department of Transportation, it carries motor vehicle, bicycle and pedestrian traffic over the waterway as part of California State Route 1, which is also signed as Main Street within the Fort Bragg city limits. Construction on the current bridge began in 2002 and was completed in August 2005,[3] now the sixth such structure to span the river near its mouth and bear the name Noyo River Bridge, replacing a two-lane steel deck truss bridge built in 1948.[4]
Noyo Bridge | |
|---|---|
 The sixth, and current, Noyo Bridge | |
| Coordinates | 39.4273°N 123.8068°W |
| Carries | Motor vehicles, pedestrians and bicycles |
| Crosses | Noyo River |
| Locale | Fort Bragg, Mendocino County, California, United States |
| Official name | Noyo River Bridge |
| Owner | California Department of Transportation |
| Maintained by | CalTrans District 1 |
| ID number | 10 0298[lower-alpha 1] |
| Preceded by | Georgia-Pacific Haul Road Bridge |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Box girder (Beam)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Material | Prestressed concrete[lower-alpha 1] |
| Total length | 875 feet (267 m)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Width | 86.6 feet (26.4 m)[lower-alpha 1] |
| Height | 110 feet (34 m) |
| Longest span | 327.1 feet (99.7 m)[lower-alpha 1] |
| No. of spans | 3 |
| Piers in water | 2 |
| Load limit | 5.96 short tons (5.4 t) (HS20+Mod) |
| Clearance below | 91.9 feet (28.0 m)[lower-alpha 1] |
| No. of lanes | 4 (11.8 ft (3.6 m) wide)[lower-alpha 2] |
| History | |
| Constructed by | MCM Construction[1] |
| Construction start | May 2002 |
| Construction end | August 2005[lower-alpha 3] |
| Construction cost | US$31.1 million |
| Opened | August 5, 2005 |
| Inaugurated | August 12, 2005 |
| Replaces | Noyo River Bridge (5th, 1948-2005) |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 23,950 (3% trucks)[lower-alpha 1] |
| |
| Location on California State Route 1 (Shoreline Highway/Main Street) | |
| References | |
Despite being listed as only four lanes, the inclusion of a full lane-width median, a bicycle path for both directions and the use of the ST-10 scenic railings resulted in a bridge deck that measures 86.6 feet (26.4 m) wide. In comparison, the deck width of the Golden Gate Bridge is only 82 feet (25 m).[5]
Predecessors
The current bridge is the sixth crossing to have been built at the mouth of the Noyo River. Only the two most recent iterations have been high-span designs, carrying traffic above Noyo Cove[6] at the same elevation as the coastal bluffs on which the majority of the city is located. The distance between the two sides at the cove is over 800 feet, though the river below is less than 100 feet wide. The first four bridges were instead sited 1,000 feet (300 m) east or approximately 1⁄3 mile upriver at one of the few shore-level spaces along the river's length that would permit footings on the riverbanks themselves as it abruptly turns approximately 130° and the navigation channel narrows to less than 30 feet. Prior to the first bridge being built in 1861, river crossings were made on a cable ferry which also operated at the same narrow point in the channel.[7]
Railings
Noyo River Bridge served as the impetus for CalTrans approving an entirely new design specification for bridge railings, one that preserved the sightlines for motorists and passengers to a far greater degree than any approved for use in the state for over 50 years.[8] The initial design proposal had called for use of the standard freeway overpass configuration that had been in use since the 60s and employed solid concrete barriers on each side measuring 42 inches (110 cm) high that completely obstructed the view of the ocean and harbor for occupants in standard passenger cars.[9] This prompted a local outcry and attention from the California Coastal Commission who worked with CalTrans for over two years on alternatives that preserved sightlines without negatively impacting safety tests, ultimately resulting in an entirely new "scenic bridge" railing design termed ST-10 being approved for use state-wide and installed on the new Noyo Bridge.
In popular culture
The 5th bridge can be scene in movies like Johnny Belinda, Overboard (1987 film), The Russians Are Coming, the Russians Are Coming, and Dying Young. It is also scene in multiple episodes of Murder, She Wrote.[10]
References
- "About MCM Construction". MCM Construction. Archived from the original on 2019-01-19. Retrieved 2019-09-03.
- "STATE ROUTE 1 over NOYO RIVER, Mendocino County, California". National Bridge Inventory. Archived from the original on 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
- "Noyo History". Scenic Bridge Railings. Archived from the original on 2017-09-29. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
- "Pictorial History of the Six Bridges that have crossed the Noyo River, Fort Bragg, CA". Hobo Laments. Archived from the original on 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
- Reeve, Scott. "Pedestrian Payload Adds Up: Just ask Golden Gate Bridge Officials". Composite Advantage. Archived from the original on 2019-08-28. Retrieved 2019-08-28.
- Pomeroy, Caroline; Thomson, Cynthia J.; Stevens, Melissa M. (August 2010). "California's North Coast Fishing Communities Historical Perspective and Recent Trends - Fort Bragg/Noyo Harbor Fishing Community Profile" (PDF). California Sea Grant - University of California, Santa Cruz. p. 17. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-08-20. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
Major improvements to the Highway 1 bridge were completed in 1948, when a high-span bridge over Noyo Cove replaced the upriver road crossing.
- Stebbins, Beth (1986). The Noyo (PDF). Mendocino, California: Bear and Stebbins. pp. iv, 55. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2019-06-21. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
- Taylor, Vince (Winter 2006). "The View from the Noyo Bridge" (PDF). Coast and Ocean. 22 (3). The California Coastal Conservancy. pp. 28–35. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-24. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
- Taylor, Vince (1999-12-01). "The Cal-transmogrification of Scenic Bridge Railings" (PDF). Scenic Bridge Railings. Dharma Cloud Foundation. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-01-25. Retrieved 2019-08-20.
- Mendocino & The Movies by Bruce Levene