ABL - Inner Harbor Bridge
Photos
SP RR bridge across Oakland Inner Harbor
up position, looking SE.
Photo taken by Craig Philpott in November 2009
BH Photo #149033
Description
From https://www.acpwa.org/pas/fruitvale-railroad-bridgeThe Fruitvale Avenue Railroad Bridge was completed in 1951 by the United States Army Corp of Engineers. It is owned by the United States Army Corp of Engineers and maintained and operated by the Alameda County Public Works Agency. The prime contractors were Ben C. Gerwick, Southern Pacific, Judson-Pacific, Murphy Construction, and Independent Construction Company. It cost $946,757 to build.
OPENING The bridge is manned by an alternating four person crew. The Bridge Tender on duty at Miller-Sweeney Bridge operates the Fruitvale Avenue Railroad Bridge.
Maintained at a height of 65 feet above the water, the bridge is considered passable by most vessel traffic. The bridge can be raised to a height of 135 feet to accommodate larger vessels.
Facts
- Overview
- Vertical lift bridge over Oakland Estuary on Union Pacific and Alameda Belt Line
- Location
- Alameda, Alameda County, California
- Status
- Intact but closed to all traffic
- Future prospects
- The City of Alameda hopes to someday use the bridge for light rail transport connecting Alameda to Oakland.
- History
- Built 1951; Union Pacific stopped all service in 2001 and abandoned the line in 2012.
- Builders
- - Ben C. Gerwick Co.
- Independent Construction Co.
- Judson Pacific-Murphy Corp of Emeryville, California
- U.S. Army Corps of Engineers of Washington, D.C.
- Railroads
- - Alameda Belt Line (ABL)
- Southern Pacific Railroad (SP)
- Union Pacific Railroad (UP)
- Design
- Vertical lift
- Dimensions
-
Length of largest span: 213.9 ft.
Total length: 420.0 ft.
- Also called
- Fruitvale Railroad Bridge
Fruitvale Avenue Railroad Bridge
Inner Harbor Railroad Bridge - Approximate latitude, longitude
- +37.76905, -122.23050 (decimal degrees)
37°46'09" N, 122°13'50" W (degrees°minutes'seconds") - Approximate UTM coordinates
- 10/567771/4180469 (zone/easting/northing)
- Quadrangle map:
- Oakland East
- Inventory number
- BH 10790 (Bridgehunter.com ID)
Update Log
- September 24, 2020: Updated by Luke: Merged builders from duplicate entry.
- September 24, 2020: Updated by Doug Klingerman: Adding/correcting info based on Alameda County Public Works Agency.
- September 22, 2020: New photos from Geoff Hubbs
- April 11, 2018: New Street View added by Luke
- October 7, 2015: New photo from Douglas Butler
- August 1, 2015: New photo from Douglas Butler
- September 7, 2014: Updated by Luke: Fixed wayward GPS coords, merged info from a redundant entry
- September 7, 2014: New photos from Royce and Bobette Haley
- April 8, 2010: New Street View added by Craig Philpott
- November 10, 2009: New photos from Craig Philpott
Related Bridges
- IER - Oakland Estuary Bridge (Predecessor)
Sources
- Craig Philpott - craigphilpott63 [at] gmail [dot] com
- Douglas Butler
- Royce and Bobette Haley - roycehaley111 [at] yahoo [dot] com
- Luke
- Oakland Wiki - Info
- Miller-Sweeney Fruitvale Vertical Lift Railroad Bridge - YouTube - In this short HD video we explore an old railroad crossing that i walked across many times as a kid. Please make sure to select HD from the video settings to...
- Geoff Hubbs
This page's URL is http://bridgehunter.com/ca/alameda/CERSPNCA0000005/
The bridge is not abandoned. Its not being used at this time by Union Pacific Railroad and is owned by the Army Corp of Engineers. The bridge is maintained and operational. It's against Federal law to abandon a drawbridge over a navigable waterway even if its not being used. The bridge either has to be maintained and operational, the water way navigable or the bridge removed.