Fruitvale Bridge
Fruitvale Bridge | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 37°46′08″N 122°13′48″W / 37.7689°N 122.23°W |
Carries | railroad |
Crosses | Oakland Estuary |
Locale | San Francisco Bay Area |
Characteristics | |
Design | Vertical-lift bridge |
Material | Steel |
Height | 175 ft (53 m) |
Clearance below | 65 ft (20 m) (raised) |
History | |
Closed | 2000 |
Location | |
Fruitvale Avenue Bridge | |
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Coordinates | 37°46′08″N 122°13′48″W / 37.7689°N 122.23°W |
Carries | cars and trucks on Fruitvale (Oakland) and Tilden Avenues (Alameda) |
Official name | Miller-Sweeney Bridge |
Characteristics | |
Design | Single leaf bascule bridge |
Material | Steel, concrete |
Total length | 215 ft (66 m) |
Width | 52 ft (16 m) roadway 6 ft 1 in (1.85 m) sidewalks |
Clearance below | 15 ft (4.6 m) (high tide) 21 ft (6.4 m) (low tide) |
No. of lanes | 4 |
History | |
Designer | McCreary-Koretsky International |
Constructed by | Hensel Phelps |
Fabrication by | Kaiser Steel |
Statistics | |
Daily traffic | 15,300 |
Location | |
The Fruitvale Bridge and the Fruitvale Avenue Bridge (the latter officially the Miller-Sweeney Bridge at Fruitvale Avenue) are parallel bridges that cross the Oakland Estuary, linking the cities of Oakland and Alameda in California. The Fruitvale Bridge is a vertical-lift Warren through truss railroad moveable bridge, while the Fruitvale Avenue Bridge is a steel stringer road bascule bridge that connects Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland with Tilden Way in Alameda.
Rail bridge
The rail bridge is immediately northwest of the Miller-Sweeney road bridge. The rail bridge connected Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland with Tilden Way in Alameda; located near the Park Street Historic Commercial District in Alameda. It has been out of service since 2000.
History
This
Design
The right-of-way still exists through the
Road bridge
The road bridge is officially named the Miller-Sweeney Bridge at Fruitvale Avenue.[1] It has no overhead steel structure like the other road bridges between Alameda and Oakland (the High Street Bridge and the Park Street Bridge) so tall vehicles should use the Miller-Sweeney Bridge.[1] Miller-Sweeney opens approximately 1,600 times per year to accommodate marine traffic.[1]
History
A railroad-only swing truss bridge at this location initially opened in 1894.[1] It was regraded to accommodate road traffic, and the train tracks were removed in 1951 with the completion of the dedicated vertical-lift rail bridge.[1] The present Miller-Sweeney Bridge was completed in 1973 by the US Army Corps of Engineers and turned over to Alameda County in 1975.[1] Miller-Sweeney won a prize bridge award for movable spans from the American Institute of Steel Construction in 1974.[2]
The Miller-Sweeney Bridge was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was damaged again in 1991 when a fully loaded barge hit the span.[1]
Design
The Miller-Sweeney Bridge is normally opened by two 75-horsepower (56 kW) motors, which take 66 seconds to fully open the bridge to 79°.[1] The motors typically operate in tandem, drawing electricity from Alameda Municipal Power. Under emergency conditions, a portable generator may be used to power the single backup 5-horsepower (3.7 kW) motor, which takes 20 minutes to fully open the bridge.[1]
References
External links
- U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Fruitvale Bridge
- Callan, Miles (29 August 2009). "The Fruitvale Avenue Railroad Bridge of Alameda, Calif". Interacting with Miniature Railroading. Retrieved 3 May 2017.