Wednesday, April 20, 2022

1935 Tower Bridge over Sacramento River in Sacromento, CA

(Bridge Hunter; Historic BridgesHAER3D Satellite)

This bridge teaches me that the thin towers of the Main Street Bridge in Jacksonville, FL, are not as revolutionary as I had thought.

David Daruszka posted
Found postcard in discarded photo album.

Significance: The Sacramento River Bridge, also known as the Tower Bridge, and as the M Street Bridge, when built, was determined eligible for inclusion in the National Register of Historic Places in 1980 and listed in the Register in 1951. The bridge represents a rare use of Streamlined Moderne architectural styling in a lift bridge, making it an outstanding expression of the social and architectural climate of the period. It was also a major link in transcontinental highway U.S. 40, and has long served as the main formal gateway to California's capital city. [HAER-data]

HAER CAL,34-SAC,58--11
11. OBLIQUE VIEW OF BRIDGE, LOOKING SOUTHEAST OF UPSTREAM SIDE OF BRIDGE FROM YOLO COUNTY SIDE OF SACRAMENTO RIVER - Sacramento River Bridge, Spanning Sacramento River at California State Highway 275, Sacramento, Sacramento County, CA

Jann Mayer via BridgeHunter, License: Creative Commons Attribution (CC BY)

Street View
HistoricBridges points out that the truss members also have a very modern design. I also like the arched portal bracing. But the concrete pillars strike me as a waste of money. The streetcar tracks in the middle of the bridge were removed in 1963. This bridge replaced a through truss swing bridge.

Jay Gavron comment on BridgeHunter
I'm researching and creating a print for the Sacramento Art Deco Society celebrating Art Deco in Sacramento. SADS Board Member Bruce Marwick shared with me the attached photo he found at the California State Archives of an original drawing by the then State Architect, Alfred Eichler. Eichler was State Architect from approximately 1930 to 1960. This drawing, in the artists hand, is one of the first conceptual renderings of the famed Tower Bridge.

Bridges Now and Then posted
Sacramento, California's Tower Bridge, 1935. (No Credit Found)
Bridges Now and Then posted
Sacramento's Tower Bridge, 1935. (Photo found on eBay)

Maureen Price commented on both of the Bridges Now and Then posts

Center for Sacramento History posted
This April 14, 1971, photo of our beloved Tower Bridge being raised to accommodate a boat was taken by Sacramento Bee photographer Harlan Smith. On this Thanksgiving, we at the Center are thankful for the bridges that help bring us together.
(Sacramento Bee Collection, 1983/001/SBPM01225)
Bridges Now and Then shared 

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