Bridgehunter.com | Sacramento Northern Bikeway

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Sacramento Northern bike path

View looking East, upriver.

Photo taken by Craig Philpott in May 2010

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BH Photo #166414

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Description

Pratt through truss bridge of old Sacramento Northern Railroad converted to bike path use and preserved in place.

Facts

Overview: Pratt through truss bridge over American River on Sacramento Northern Bike Trail
Location: Sacramento, Sacramento County, California
Status: Open to pedestrians
Future prospects: Historical Pratt truss railroad bridge of the Sacramento Northern Railroad converted to pedestrian and bike path bridge.
Builder: - Carnegie Steel Co. of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania (Iron/Steel Manufacturer)
Railroads: - Interurban
- Northern Electric Railway (NE)
- Rail-to-trail
- Sacramento Northern Railway (SN)
Design: Pratt through truss with Warren pony truss south approach span.
Dimensions: Length of largest span: 194.0 ft.
Total length: 600.0 ft.
Deck width: 16.0 ft.
Also called: NER - American River Bridge
SN - American River Bridge
Approximate latitude, longitude: +38.59402, -121.47457 (decimal degrees)
38°35'38" N, 121°28'28" W (degrees°minutes'seconds")
Approximate UTM coordinates: 10/632844/4272829 (zone/easting/northing)
Elevation: 45 ft. above sea level
Inventory number: BH 45387 (Bridgehunter.com ID)

Update Log

April 11, 2018: New Street View added by Luke
February 5, 2017: New photo from Dana and Kay Klein
August 24, 2016: Updated by Christopher Finigan: Added category "Riveted"
January 27, 2014: New Street View added by Luke Harden
June 15, 2013: Updated by Luke Harden: Added categories "Northern Electric Railway", "Sacramento Northern Railway", "Railroad", "Interurban"
June 26, 2012: Updated by Luke Harden: Added category "Rail-to-trail"
September 5, 2010: Updated by Craig Philpott: refined description
May 26, 2010: New Street View added by Joshua Collins
May 25, 2010: Added by Craig Philpott

Related Bridges

NER - American River Bridge (Old) (Predecessor)

Sources

Craig Philpott - craigphilpott63 [at] gmail [dot] com
Joshua Collins - Bigjc1979 [at] aol [dot] com
Luke
Dana and Kay Klein

Comments

Sacramento Northern Bikeway - American River Bridge

Posted September 20, 2016, by Christopher Finigan

It's wonderful to have such historic structures here in my native hometown. I'm very glad that Sacramento has been able to find in their heart to preserve great bridges such as this one.

Sacramento Northern Bike Trail American River Bridge

Posted January 27, 2014, by Todd Clark (covbridges [at] msn [dot] com)

The original bridge at this location was a 5-span Pratt wood-steel combination through truss. It was built in 1906/1907 and damaged in 1913 when the south span collapsed under the weight of a Southern Pacific Engine and Tender with 5 fully-loaded gravel cars. The accident was determined to be the result of faulty wood pilings (see CA Railway Commission Report from 1914). So, the steel bridge standing today was built some time after the accident (potentially right afterwards) at a time unknown to me.