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Colorado Boulevard Bridge

Los Angeles County, California

Photos 

Colorado Blvd. Bridge over the Arroyo Seco

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

David Kimbrough

Enlarge

BH Photo #113916

Map 

Street Views 

Video 

Under the Bridge

Colorado Street Bridge, Pasadena, CA

Photograhy By Gina Acuna

Play video on YouTube

The Scoville Bridge 

Written by David Kimbrough

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 1913; rehabilitated 1993
Builders
- J.A.L. Waddell of Port Hope, Canada (Lead Engineer)
- Mercereau Bridge & Construction Co. of Los Angeles, California
- Waddell & Harrington of Kansas City, Missouri (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)
Quadrangle map:
Altadena
Average daily traffic (as of 2014)
10,600
Inventory numbers
CA 53C-107 (California bridge number)
NRHP 81000156 (National Register of Historic Places reference number)
BH 10960 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection report (as of July 2016)
Overall condition: Fair
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Deck condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 74.3 (out of 100)
View more at BridgeReports.com

Categories 

Arch (11,596)
Built 1913 (819)
Built during 1910s (9,303)
California (2,306)
Curved (413)
Deck arch (10,841)
Have street view (25,685)
J.A.L. Waddell (21)
Los Angeles County, California (366)
Mercereau Bridge & Construction Co. (2)
NR-listed (2,880)
 Open (38,513)
Open-spandrel arch (716)
Owned by city (4,992)
Pasadena, California (10)
Skewed (4,817)
Span length 175-250 feet (1,901)
Tall Bridges (318)
Total length 1000-2500 feet (1,751)
US 66 (270)
Waddell & Harrington (44)

Update Log 

  • November 21, 2019: Updated by Luke: Added builder
  • May 25, 2019: New photos from Joe Sonderman
  • July 8, 2015: New photos from Michael Shulman
  • December 23, 2014: New photo from David Kimbrough
  • 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

Related Bridges 

Sources 

  • David Kimbrough - kimbrough-photo [at] charter [dot] net
  • James McCray - jamesinslocomb [at] yahoo [dot] com
  • Craig Philpott - craigphilpott63 [at] gmail [dot] com
  • Jason Smith - flensburg [dot] bridgehunter [dot] av [at] googlemail [dot] com
  • Gina Acuna - gacuna7 [at] aol [dot] com
  • Michael Shulman - mikeifish [at] aol [dot] com
  • Joe Sonderman
  • Luke
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Comments 

Colorado Blvd Bridge
Posted May 4, 2012, by David Kimbrough (kimbrough-photo [at] charter [dot] net)

Hello Ja Fehr,

You are right, I was looking at it recently and wondering a bit myself. So I removed it.

Colorado Blvd Bridge
Posted May 4, 2012, by Ja Fehr (jafehr [at] acm [dot] org)

Photograph 8 of 30, entitled "Colorado Blvd. Bridge under Constrution" [sic], is not of the Colorado Blvd. Bridge.

Thank you for posting this attractive structure.