"I" Street Bridge

As of February 20, 2020, Sacramento's KCRA 3 news reports that the lower deck of the I Street Bridge will be used by the railroads, while the upper deck will be converted into a pedestrian and bicycling trail. The bridge will be preserved.

After considering my statement of Dec 30, I rescind the comment that the I Street Bridge was fabricated in Pennsylvania. Kyle Wyatt indicated that it had been fabricated in 1911 in the east, shipped to Sacramento and then assembled in 1912. He did not specify fabrication in Pennsylvania. That was my mistake.

I have no access to technical drawings of the I Street Bridge. I have collected the following information regarding bridges crossing within the immediate area of the current bridge from the California RR Museum Library, 111 I St, Sacramento.

The "1911" I Street Bridge is the fifth bridge to have crossed within a hundred yards of its current location. The first was a wagon bridge built in 1858 approximately 100 feet upstream of the current bridge. It was followed in 1870 by a railroad bridge built by California Pacific Railroad. In 1875 the Central Pacific Railroad built an improved bridge beside it. In 1895 the Southern Pacific Railroad built a bridge downstream of the current bridge. This bridge left the west bank near the current F Street (historically Harriett Street). This bridge met the east side of the river near the current location of the turntable at the California RR Museum. The tracks then ran north and east to the 1879 Central Pacific passenger depot.

The California RR Museum Library has photos of all five of these bridges. In Summer of 2017 these photos were in boxes labeled Shops 10A and Shops 10B. Shops 10A has photos of the first four bridges. Shops 10B has photos specific to the "1911" bridge.

The comments and illustrations made by the 1996 organizer of these boxes contradicted what I saw in the photographs. These contradictions were very confusing and raised questions in my mind regarding the specific location of these bridges. My confusion was completely eliminated when Kyle K. Wyatt, Parks and Recreation Historian at the library, offered a diagram of the true locations of the five bridges. The title of this document was "SP Sacramento Shops Vault Coll. CSRM March 1912" This particular diagram was not part of the boxes that I viewed in Summer 2017.

Kyle Wyatt also related to me that the I Street Bridge was fabricated in Pennsylvania in 1911, shipped to Sacramento, and assembled in situ in 1912. Therefore, my "1911".

Kyle Wyatt may have access to specific technical drawings of the I Street Bridge.

I have copies of many of the photographs, illustrations, and documents from the mentioned boxes. I do not have permission to publish them.

The Museum Library is one of many resources for information regarding this bridge.

Note: California Pacific and Central Pacific were two separate companies at the relevant times mentioned.

I welcome any comments or corrections.

Also, as this bridge carries a railroad in addition to traffic, the railroad may have archives. If John Marvig chimes in, I would rely on his advice as he is one of our railroad experts on here.

Robert

Hi Elizabeth:

There are a few possibilities. The city or county might have copies. If not, the State Historical Society or perhaps CALTRANS might have something in their archives. The other possibility might be the archives of the bridge company if they still exist. I would suggest starting with the city and seeing if they can point you in the right direction. Best wishes in your quest.

Robert

I am looking to get some technical designs/drawings re I Street Bridge in Sacramento, CA along with any interesting history about it. Could you direct me to where I can attain these items.