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Gerald Desmond Bridge

Los Angeles County, California

Photos 

Gerald Desmond Bridge

Westward view from Long Beach

www.bridges-of-los-angeles-county.com

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BH Photo #114529

Map 

Street Views 

Facts 

Overview
Bridge over Port of Long Beach on Ocean Blvd./California Highway 47/I-710 in Long Beach
Location
Long Beach, Los Angeles County, California
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built 1968.
Builders
- Bethlehem Steel Co. of Bethlehem, Pennsylvania
- Moffatt & Nichol (Engineers)
Design
Suspended Deck - Steel Arch
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 527.0 ft.
Total length: 5,134.0 ft. (1.0 mi.)
Deck width: 67.3 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 18.4 ft.
Approximate latitude, longitude
+33.76452, -118.22103   (decimal degrees)
33°45'52" N, 118°13'16" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
11/386926/3736716 (zone/easting/northing)
Quadrangle map:
Long Beach
Elevation
250 ft. above sea level
Inventory number
BH 36658 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Categories 

Arch (11,806)
Bethlehem Steel Co. (130)
Built 1968 (141)
Built during 1960s (1,953)
California (2,347)
Deck arch (11,051)
Deck truss (1,660)
Doomed (1,084)
Have street view (26,089)
Long Beach, California (20)
 Los Angeles County, California (372)
Moffatt & Nichol (1)
Open (38,986)
Span length 500-1000 feet (382)
Steel arch (364)
Suspended Deck Through Truss (18)
Total length over 2500 feet (872)
Truss (31,955)
Warren deck truss (591)
Warren truss (6,395)

Update Log 

  • May 22, 2020: Updated by David Chesterman: May 22, 2020 Maximum span previously listed was for the entire truss arch extending far beyond actual span. Correct maximum span added. The new cable stay bridge will, of course, be different.
  • February 17, 2016: Updated by Andy Peters: scheduled for demolition; replacement bridge under construction
  • September 4, 2014: New photos from Royce and Bobette Haley
  • April 19, 2010: New Street View added by Nathan Holth
  • February 21, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: Corrected GPS data
  • December 18, 2008: New photo from David Kimbrough
  • June 17, 2008: Updated by Max Johnson
  • June 17, 2008: Updated by David Kimbrough
  • June 14, 2008: Updated by David Kimbrough
  • May 28, 2008: Added by David Kimbrough

Sources 

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Comments 

Gerald Desmond Bridge
Posted May 21, 2020, by D Chesterman (chestermand [at] yahoo [dot] com)

First this is an outstanding site I use often so no disrespect but I believe the span data for this bridge is actually the length of the entire truss/arch. Other sites report the bridge only spans about 527 ft (161 m) between the supports. The truss arch runs about the length mentioned for the span but it runs far beyond each support. I used Google Earth to measure the distance on the ground.

Gerald Desmond Bridge
Posted March 19, 2012, by Mark Powers (rex [at] hungloose [dot] com)

This bridge has a pedestrian walkway.

3 bids for new contruction rec'd March 2012. New bridge to open by 2016.

Gerald Desmond Bridge
Posted November 24, 2010, by Ed Hollowell (erhollowell [at] aol [dot] com)

The replacement bridge has started construction. Story at http://articles.latimes.com/2010/nov/23/local/la-me-bridge-2...

Gerald Desmond Bridge
Posted January 31, 2010, by Ed Hollowell (erhollow [at] dslextreme [dot] com)

According to The Dailybreeze newspaper there are plans being made to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge with a new cable supported bridge. Reasons given were deteriorating concrete in the decks and lack of clearance for larger, modern ships as well as the desire to increase capacity. The Dailybreese story was published January 30, 2010.