Colorado Blvd Bridge

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Colorado Blvd. Bridge over the Arroyo Seco

A view from the Arroyo Seco river bed looking south east.

David Kimbrough

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Street Views 

The Scoville Bridge 

In the arid south west of the United States more than anywhere else, the growth of a city was dependent upon water. Pasadena was founded where it was exactly to take advantage of a reliable water supply, the Arroyo Seco ("Dry Gulch" in English). It was a reliable source of water in a rather dry environment.

However the Arroyo Seco was also problem, it was deep in a steep sided canyon. This meant that Pasadena was physically isolated from its western neighbors. Travelers would have to make long detours passable crossing north or south of Pasadena.

This was finally changed by James Scoville. He had been the Vice President of the Elgin Watch Co., President of the Prairie State Bank, and a trustee of what would later be known as California Institute of Technology. He built a pleasure garden on the bluff above the Arroyo Seco which went down the slope of the canyon walls to the stream itself. There he built a small dam and pump house. The top of the dam served as the eastern abutment of a wooden bridge, the first connect Pasadena to the western side of the Arroyo. Scoville Bridge was still in service when the much larger and grander Colorado Blvd. Bridge was built above it.

Facts 

Overview

Concrete arch bridge over Arroyo Seco on Colorado Blvd. in Pasadena

Location

Pasadena, Los Angeles County, California

Status

Open to traffic

History

Built 1880, Replaced 1913; rehabilitated 1993

Builders

- J.A.L. Waddell of Port Hope, Canada (Lead Engineer)
- James W. Scoville
- Waddell & Harrington (Design Firm)

Design

Open-spandrel arch

Dimensions

Length of largest span: 223.1 ft.
Total length: 1,428.2 ft.

Recognition

Posted to the National Register of Historic Places on February 12, 1981

Also called

"Suicide Bridge" (Unpleasant but sadly accurate).
Arroyo Seco Bridge, Scoville Bridge

Approximate latitude, longitude

+34.14451, -118.16609   (decimal degrees)
34°08'40" N, 118°09'58" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")

Approximate UTM coordinates

11/392493/3778792 (zone/easting/northing)

USGS topographic map

Pasadena

Inventory numbers

CA 53C-107 (California bridge number)
NRHP 81000156 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 10960 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Inspection (as of 08/2010)

Deck condition rating: Poor (4 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Appraisal: Structurally deficient
Sufficiency rating: 70.3 (out of 100)

Average daily traffic (as of 1998)

16,987

Categories 

Update Log 

• August 22, 2012: New photo from David Kimbrough
• July 25, 2012: New photo from David Kimbrough
• May 3, 2012: Essay added by David Kimbrough
• May 2, 2012: Updated by David Kimbrough: Adding Scoville Bridge
• June 13, 2011: Updated by Craig Philpott: Adjusted bridge name
• June 13, 2011: Photos added by Gina Acuna
• December 16, 2010: New photo from David Kimbrough
• April 16, 2010: New Street View added by James Baughn
• April 10, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: added builder name
• March 27, 2010: New photos from Jason Smith
• August 7, 2009: New photos from Craig Philpott
• January 4, 2009: New photo from David Kimbrough
• December 19, 2008: New photos from David Kimbrough
• June 6, 2008: Updated by David Kimbrough
• May 29, 2008: Updated by James McCray
• May 1, 2008: New photos from David Kimbrough

Sources 

• David Kimbrough - kimbrough-photo [at] charter [dot] net
• James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
• Craig Philpott - cphilpott [at] puc [dot] edu
• Jason Smith - JDSmith77 [at] gmx [dot] net
• Gina Acuna - gacuna7 [at] aol [dot] com

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