Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge

The Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge in the Santa Ynez Mountains links Santa Barbara, California with Santa Ynez, California. The bridge is signed as part of State Route 154.

Cold Spring Canyon Arch Bridge
Coordinates34°31′33.81″N 119°50′4.53″W
Carries2 lanes of SR 154
CrossesCold Spring Canyon
LocaleSanta Ynez Mountains,
Santa Barbara County, California
Maintained byCaltrans
Characteristics
Designsteel arch
Total length1,217 ft (371 m)[1]
Longest span700 ft (213 m)[1][2]
Clearance below400 ft (122 m)[1][2]
History
Construction costOver $2,000,000[1]
Opened1964
Location

It is currently the highest arch bridge in the U.S. state of California and among the highest bridges in the United States. At its highest point, the bridge deck is 400 ft (122 m) above the canyon floor.[1][2] The bridge is also the largest steel arch bridge in the state.[3] It was determined to be eligible for the National Register of Historic Places with exceptional significance.[3]

History

The current bridge was completed and opened to traffic in February 1964.[4] It was constructed by U.S Steel Corp's American Bridge division and Massman Construction Co.[3] The structure won awards for engineering, design, and beauty. It was in the top 5 longest span arch bridges of this "supported deck" type in the world until the 1990s.

Cold Spring Tavern, originally a stagecoach stop, is approximately 600m south of the bridge's west base in the canyon below, on a stub of Old San Marcos Pass Road (now named Stagecoach Rd.) connecting with SR 154 at Camino Cielo and Paradise Roads.

Seismic retrofitting was completed in 1998 by American Bridge, one of the companies involved in the original construction.[3]

Barriers

As of March 2012, the bridge had been the site of 55 suicides since its completion, which is about one per year on average; however, some years have several more suicides, such as the eight deaths recorded in 2009. In an effort to prevent future incidents, California Department of Transportation installed a 9.5 ft (2.9 m) tall barrier in the form of an inwardly-curved, finely-gridded mesh fence in March 2012.[5] The fence cost $3.2 million.[6] A Santa Monica man committed suicide from the bridge six months later in September 2012.[6]

See also

References
  1. Lansing Duncan (March 31, 2011), A historic view of the 'Steel Shortcut' bridge, Santa Ynez Valley News, archived from the original on December 20, 2016, retrieved December 20, 2016
  2. Sakowski, Eric (June 3, 2016). "Cold Spring Canyon Bridge". highestbridges.com. Archived from the original on December 20, 2016. Retrieved December 20, 2016.
  3. Noozhawk. "Cold Spring Canyon Bridge: By the Engineering Numbers". www.noozhawk.com. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  4. "Cold Spring Canyon Bridge, State Route (SR) 154 from Post Mile (PM) 22.95 to 23.19, just north of the San Marcos Pass, Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara County, CA". Library of Congress, Washington, D.C. 20540 USA. Retrieved 2020-06-08.
  5. Caltrans Completes Suicide Barrier on Cold Spring Canyon Bridge
  6. Bolton, Tom (2012-09-08). "Despite Barrier, Cold Spring Bridge Claims New Victim". Noozhawk. Retrieved 2017-01-22.
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