Tower Bridge (Sacramento)

타워 브리지 (새크라멘토)

Tower Bridge is a vertical lift bridge across the Sacramento River. It links West Sacramento, in Yolo County, with Sacramento, the capital of California, in Sacramento County. It is also known as the M Street Bridge, and the state maintains it as State Route 275. It was once part of U.S. Route 40 and of US Route 99W. It was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1982.

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At a glance

Country: United States
Location: Sacramento, USA
Built: 1935
Height: 49 m
Type: Bridge

Quick answers

Where is Tower Bridge (Sacramento)?

Tower Bridge (Sacramento) is in Sacramento, USA, United States.

When was Tower Bridge (Sacramento) built?

Tower Bridge (Sacramento) was built in 1935.

How tall is Tower Bridge (Sacramento)?

Tower Bridge (Sacramento) is about 49 m tall.

A Streamline Moderne vertical-lift bridge with twin towers painted gold.

It is a rare lift bridge built in the Streamline Moderne style, a smooth, curved style popular in the 1930s. The steel towers were wrapped in sheet steel to streamline their look. It was dedicated on December 15, 1935, when Governor Frank Merriam led the first parade across it and 1,000 homing pigeons were released to carry the news across California.

Why a new bridge

The Tower Bridge replaced the 1911 M Street Bridge, a swing railroad bridge to which narrow 9-foot roadway sections were later added on each side. Sacramento's population more than doubled between 1910 and 1935, so the old bridge was too small, and in 1933 the city decided it also needed a better crossing in case of war. After a planning conference on December 22, 1933, and an agreement on March 8, 1934, building began on July 20, 1934. A temporary timber-and-steel bridge carried trains while road traffic was sent to the I Street Bridge.

How the lift works

Each tower is 160 feet tall. The central lift span is 209 feet long and weighs 1,150 short tons, but a matching counterweight in each tower balances it, so two small 100-horsepower electric motors are enough to raise and lower it. When the span is up, there is 100 feet of clearance above high water and a navigation channel 172 feet wide. The bridge was first designed as a 52-foot-wide road with sidewalks and a 13-foot center lane for trains.

Trains, cars and honors

The first train crossed on November 7, 1935, and the state formally accepted the bridge on January 11, 1936, making it the first vertical lift bridge in the California Highway System. The last trains used it in 1962, and the tracks were removed the next year, so the road was repainted with four lanes for cars. In 1935 the American Institute of Steel Construction gave the bridge an honorable mention for its Class B prize bridge award.