Rating:
3 votes

Gualala Road Bridge

Mendocino County, California
Share:

Photos 

Gualala Rd Bridge

Looking W

Photo taken by Craig Philpott in September 2009

Enlarge

Map 

View Uglybridges.com report

Facts 

Overview
Pratt Through truss bridge over North Fork Gualala River on Gualala Road
Location
Mendocino County, California
Status
Open to traffic
History
Built in this location 1940
Design
Pinned Pratt Through truss with Phoenix columns
Dimensions
Length of largest span: 129.9 ft.
Total length: 187.0 ft.
Deck width: 10.5 ft.
Vertical clearance above deck: 21.0 ft.
Recognition
Eligible for the National Register of Historic Places
Approximate latitude, longitude
+38.77889, -123.50000   (decimal degrees)
38°46'44" N, 123°30'00" W   (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates
10/456569/4292358 (zone/easting/northing)
USGS topographic map
Gualala
Inventory numbers
CA 10C-46 (California bridge number)
BH 11129 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Inspection (as of 05/2011)
Deck condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Satisfactory (6 out of 9)
Appraisal: Functionally obsolete
Sufficiency rating: 42.2 (out of 100)
Average daily traffic (as of 2011)
97

Categories 

Built 1940 (686)
Built during 1940s (2,795)
California (1,615)
Functionally obsolete (7,035)
Mendocino County, California (50)
NR-eligible (3,749)
One-lane traffic (7,111)
Open (28,293)
Owned by county (16,482)
Phoenix columns (28)
 Pin-connected (1,519)
Pratt through truss (3,162)
Pratt truss (5,653)
Span length 125-175 feet (2,950)
Through truss (9,200)
Total length 175-250 feet (2,788)
Truss (23,558)
Wooden deck (5,397)
Wrought iron (225)

Update Log 

  • March 9, 2012: New photos from Craig Philpott
  • March 22, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: refined design description
  • March 1, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: Amended design
  • February 18, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: Corrected design
  • September 13, 2009: New photos from Craig Philpott

Sources 

Post a comment here
Contact webmaster

Comments 

Gualala Road Bridge
Posted December 7, 2009, by Dick Garland (GarWritz [at] aol [dot] com)

According to "Historic Highway Bridges of California", 1990 by Cal Department of Trans., the bridge was built in 1899. It is one of four remaining Phoenix Bridge Company bridges in California. No mention is made of the bridge being a relocation project (see page 167). See also pp 48 thru 53.

Gualala Road Bridge
Posted September 14, 2009, by Anthony Dillon (spansaver [at] hotmail [dot] com)

Definitely an 1870's-1880's span, and a beauty at that! Phoenix columns on the endposts, top chords, and main verticals. I also have heard of bridges from the East being replaced with newer spans and the old span dismantled and relocated far away. "Go West young man.....and take the bridge with you!".

Gualala Road Bridge
Posted September 14, 2009, by Michael Goff (michael [dot] goff [at] odot [dot] state [dot] or [dot] us)

This bridge is probably one of the many recycled truss bridges on the west coast. I have seen many old trusses that have been moved to the west coast from the Midwest that date from the mid to late 1800's, but have construction dates in the 1930’s and 1940’s.

As roads and railroads were improved in the more populous regions east of the Rocky Mountains, areas of the Pacific Coast were just developing there roadways. So, many structures were torn down and moved west.

Gualala Road Bridge
Posted September 14, 2009, by Robert Elder (robertelder1 [at] gmail [dot] com)

I will go out on a limb here and suggest that this brige was built well before 1940. I would suspect 1870s, given the columns and portal bracing. This bridge is definitely a great find!