City Creek Bridge

My father worked on that bridge in 1948 as of the heavy equipment mechanic. That was a year before I was born. He told a story to me of a caterpillar going over the edge into the canyon and the guy jumping off saving his own life.

I used this bridge for climbing practice in the mid 80s. It was perfect; the angled structures on the side made perfect stepping-off places. As I recall it was about a 90 foot free rappel. Then I would clip Jumars onto the rope and climb back up. I spent many a happy afternoon here!

Could drop the wedding party in by helicopter! That would be a memorable experience indeed!!!

Marriage on the bridge. Interesting. Have you actually visited the site? Parking would be difficult and access, at least several years ago, was by thrashing thru the brush. When I photographed this bridge I also had a delightful conversation with CHP regarding parking and rules and such....good luck.

Anyone know who to contact if I were seeking permission to get married on the bridge? Also, concerning the west end being cut, how would one go about assessing the structural integrity so as not to endanger the loved ones that might gather for the event :)

Thanks for any advice/info

There was another bridge of the same basic design (Pratt deck) with multiple spans that carried CA-30 and 38 across the Santa Ana River, built in 1918 as was this one. The approaches to it were very basic ramps with very sharp transitions (none, actually) to the deck. It was condemned and replaced by Div. of Highways sometime in the early '70s, as I recall. It had the same "basket weave" strap iron guard fence, and a rather impressive dedication plate made of bronze on the south end. A shoofly through the riverbed served to carry traffic while the old bridge was demolished and a new concrete box member replacement built.

So some moron actually thought they could cut and scrap this bridge? They probably realized how stupid they were and stopped before it dropped the bridge into the creek...with them underneath it!

As of May 2012 this bridge has been cut buy someone with a torch.

Its only on the west end, but the cuts are to the main structure and all the way through.

The bridge seems to have taken it so far and not moved.

I would like to see this designated as a historical bridge and repaired. Anyone else feel the same way?

The old truss bridge you mention was built in 1918 when City Creek Rd. was first built. As late as the mid-'70s, "Old City Creek Rd." was still accessible from a turnout. The old road served a trout pond business on the opposite side of the canyon and a few remaining homes. After one of the numerous fires that plague the canyon, this one being in the '80s, the road was permanently closed. Later enhancements to the right-of-way obliterated the approach. This bridge and the road were maintained by San Bernardino County up until that time. The structure was painted in a dark green by them. It was judged structurally deficient by the county in the '80s, and, one by one, property owners on that segment of Old City Creek Rd. either sold out or abandoned their homes. Evidently, after closure of most of Old City Creek Rd., the date plate was removed. I definitely remember it. My mother and her family definitely rememberd crossing this bridge and a couple of others on their many trips from Los Angeles up to Lake Arrowhead in the 1920s.

Any information that can be found regarding this bridge would be appreciated. This bridge is located in the canyon of City Creek just North of Redlands, CA. It clearly was abandoned during highway re-alignment in the 1940's. There is no visible builder plate nor construction date visible that I could find.