dimanche 13 mai 2012

Série du Pont de Dimanche

Sunday Bridges
A Review of the Bridges of the San Francisco Bay Area
The San Mateo Bridge

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The San Mateo Bridge at dusk.

The San Mateo – Hayward Bridge (commonly called the San Mateo Bridge) is a bridge crossing California's San Francisco Bay, linking the San Francisco Peninsula with the East Bay. The bridge's west end is in Foster City, the most recent urban addition to the eastern edge of San Mateo. The east end of the bridge is in Hayward. It is the longest bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area and the 25th longest in the world by length. The bridge is owned by the state of California, and is maintained by Caltrans, the state highway agency.

The bridge is part of State Route 92, whose western terminus is at the town of Half Moon Bay on the Pacific coast. It links Interstate 880 in the East Bay with U.S. Route 101 on the Peninsula. It is roughly parallel to and lies between the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge and the Dumbarton Bridge.

The original bridge, known as the San Francisco Bay Toll-Bridge, opened in 1929 and was then the longest bridge in the world. The original bridge was mostly a two-lane causeway with a 300-foot (91 m) vertical lift span over the main shipping channel. The bridge originally had pole lights along the entire stretch, which were later abandoned except over the vertical lift span. It was replaced with a modern span in 1967. The total length of the bridge is 7.0 miles (11.3 km). The 1.9 miles (3.1 km) highrise section, the western end of the bridge, is composed of multiple steel girder spans. The eastern trestle portion accounts for the remaining 5.1 mi (8.2 km) of the overall length. The shipping channel beneath the highrise is 750 feet (229 m) wide with a vertical clearance of 135 feet (41 m). The bridge recently underwent an extensive seismic retrofitting to protect against earthquake damage. The bridge carries about 93,000 cars and other vehicles on a typical day.

The highrise section was initially built with six lanes and the eastern causeway with four lanes (two in each direction). The causeway section was a perennial traffic bottleneck until it was expanded to six lanes in 2004, along with much needed improvements in its connections with Interstate 880 in Hayward.

The San Mateo Bridge seen from Foster City on the western end of the bridge looking east to Hayward and the East Bay.

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12 commentaires:

Genie a dit…

I don’t remember your showing us this bridge before, but then I am OLD and my memory is failing. That first shot is beautiful. Went to the Roanoke Transportation Museum today to see the trains, but guess what I saw and photographed for VOUS....a GORGEOUS Studebaker and quite an impressive Packard. There was a Desoto, too. I drove one that had pushbuttons instead of a hand shift. I kid you not....I carefully checked out every car to find you your favorites. Success. genie

Jim a dit…

Stunning photo.

jack69 a dit…

That is a beautiful shot. Thanks for the history lesson. It is something to have held the record for the longest bridge in the world.

Bibi a dit…

That's one beautiful bridge and the photo is gorgeous.

Rob and Mandy a dit…

Glorious!

VioletSky a dit…

'a perennial traffic bottleneck..." just proves that if you build a bridge, they will use it.

Francisca a dit…

Another engineering marvel. Your top shot of the San Mateo Bridge is stunning.

Amy Burzese a dit…

A great bridge shot!

Linnea a dit…

I know this bridge very well!

Chrissy Brand a dit…

A wonderful and inspiring photo.

Marie a dit…

Bonne semaine à toi, Louis.

Halcyon a dit…

Beautiful night shot of this bridge!