shemale shemale!      The first Carquinez Bridge was opened May 21, 1927. At the time, it was the largest cantilever bridge in the USA. It took twenty five months to build.

Aerial photo of the first bridge looking toward Vallejo.  Our homes are now located to the far right in this picture.

    People alive then remembered the 1907 earthquake so they wanted the bridge to be earthquake proof. Consequently, the bridge was built to withstand earthquakes. The 1927 bridge was the last of the long cantilever truss bridges built in the United States. Today, the bridge is not considered strong enough so it is being replaced.

    The bridge was made of steel beams and is 0.8 miles long. Before it was built people got across the Carquinez strait by ferry. The ferry carried about 400,000 vehicles a year in the 1920's. Two grocers found investors to help them finance the building of a bridge. A private company owned the bridge until 1940. They earned money by charging toll which was credited to them before the bridge was purchased by the State of California.

This is a photo showing the way they lift the roadbed to the towers using counterweights. They're going to use a gigantic crane for the new bridge.

    Like the problems engineers are facing now, engineers in 1927 had the same difficulties. On the Crockett side, the engineers then had to drive piles through 45 feet of crumbly material before they reached rock. The current was swift and the tide was strong. Altogether the bridge cost 8 million dollars in 1927. The replacement will cost at least $200 million.

    The post war boom created a traffic increase on the old bridge and a new span was proposed. It was completed  November 25, 1958 and cost $38 million. Eastbound traffic goes across this bridge. This bridge is currently being retrofitted to be stronger against earthquakes. The 1927 span is not strong enough for a retrofit. It would cost more  money to fix it than it would to build a new one. When the new span is completed, it will take 2 years to demolish it. Some of its parts will be sent to museums around the Bay Area.

Photos courtesy of Randal Brandt