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Cut off
Before the bridge opened in 1932, winter cut off the people of Big Sur
Before the opening of the bridge in 1932, residents of the Big Sur area were virtually cut off during winter. Blockages made the Old Coast Road, which led 11 miles inland, often impassable. The state began building Route 56 in 1919.
Concrete
Engineers chose concrete because it would echo the color of the cliffs
State engineers chose a coastal route and a larger bridge over an inland route that needed an 890-foot tunnel through the Santa Lucia Mountains. They chose concrete over steel, which sea air would require them to paint and maintain, partly to echo the rock cliff formations.
Falsework
A tower of Douglas fir timber held the arch up while it was poured
A 250-foot falsework of Douglas fir timber supported the arch during construction. Constantly exposed to high winds, it took two months to build. When high waves threatened its foundation, work halted until winter storms abated. Construction began on August 24, 1931.
250-footfalsework of Douglas fir that supported the arch
The buttresses
The two large buttresses beside the arch are functionally unnecessary
The bridge is 714 feet long, with a main span of 360 feet and 260 feet of clearance below. The two large vertical buttresses on either side of the arch are functionally unnecessary, and engineers of later arch bridges left them out.
714 feetthe total length of the bridge
Day 3, morning
Next is Pfeiffer Beach.
More stories from this trip idea
The words are a retelling of the Wikipedia article Bixby Bridge, and are shared under CC BY-SA 4.0. They are checked against those articles, and a fact that is not in them is left out.