Auburn-Forest Hill Bridge
Description
The Foresthill Bridge, which soars 730 feet above the stream bed of the American River's North Fork, is reputed to be the 3rd highest bridge in the United States and the tallest in California. The bridge opened for public use on Labor Day, 1973. The 2,428 foot long span, with piers only 16 feet shorter than those of the San Francisco Golden Gate Bridge, was built at a cost of $13 million by the Bureau of Reclamation.The bridge was built to span Auburn Lake, the reservoir that would have backed up into the North and Middle Fork canyons of the American River behind the Auburn Dam. If it had ever been built. The dam project was abandoned and the bridge now spans the North Fork canyon.
Facts
- Overview
- Deck truss bridge over North Fork American River on Auburn-Forest Hill Road in North Auburn
- Location
- Placer County, California
- Status
- Open to traffic
- History
- Built 1972
- Design
- Warren deck truss
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 861.9 ft.
Total length: 2,429.3 ft. (0.5 mi.)
Deck width: 40.0 ft.
- Approximate latitude, longitude
- +38.92194, -121.03889 (decimal degrees)
38°55'19" N, 121°02'20" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/670009/4309943 (zone/easting/northing)
- USGS topographic map
- Auburn
- Inventory numbers
- CA 19C-60 (California bridge number)
BH 11242 (Bridgehunter.com ID) - Inspection (as of 07/2010)
- Deck condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Superstructure condition rating: Fair (5 out of 9)
Substructure condition rating: Good (7 out of 9)
Sufficiency rating: 83.6 (out of 100) - Average daily traffic (as of 2008)
- 7,318
Update Log
- June 14, 2011: New photos from Mike Lynch
- March 11, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: Added street view
- September 30, 2009: New photos from Craig Philpott
- July 31, 2009: New photo from Craig Philpott
- November 5, 2008: New photo from Larry Matthews
- November 6, 2006: Posted photo from Larry Matthews
Sources
- Larry Matthews
- Craig Philpott - cphilpott [at] puc [dot] edu
- Mike Lynch - lynch3212 [at] wavecable [dot] com
- Sean Dickinson - SLDdigital [at] live [dot] com
Comments
Please combine these photos with the original page for this bridge.
Watched a guy in a pink bunny suit run out the bridge and jump off. He had a parachute.
Used to go out and sit mid span in the moonlight and have a beer with friends. One night we saw a bunch of giggling kids soak a couch with gas, light it and toss it over. I counted a 13 second freefall to a magnificent splat.
Didn't anyone see him there? I wish someone would have. My god why did you stop him Lord! If he could have just had his wings a little sooner. Rest in Paradise my sweet sweet Andrew.
The bridge was used in the beginning of the movie "XXX" (Triple X) where the hero drove the Corvette off the bridge. It was not special effects - it really happened. The 'Vette ended up in small plastic pieces at the bottom. Over the years several suicides have occurred and a few accidents. All in all, the bridge need not have been built as the dam that was supposed to result in a flooding the valley below never was built.
An unneeded bridge. As it turned out, the damed dam that would have inundated the canyon and made need for the bridge was never built. The older bridge is still there at the bottom of the canyon, after a steep drive down a winding cliff-side drive.
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ca/placer/auburn-forest-hill/