Bixby Bridge

Bixby Creek Arch Bridge
A view of the Bixby Creek Bridge from its northern end, looking SSE
Coordinates	36°22′20.92″N 121°54′10.89″W
Carries	Cabrillo Highway
Crosses	Bixby Creek(?)
Locale	Big Sur
Characteristics
Design	reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge
Total length	714 feet (218 m)
Width	24 feet (7 m)
Longest span	320 feet (98 m)
Clearance below	79.2 meters (260 feet)
History
Opened	1932
Location

Viewed from the other side of Cabrillo Highway

Bixby Creek Bridge is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge in Big Sur, California, 120 miles south of San Francisco along Cabrillo Highway (CA-1).  It is 714 feet long, 24 feet wide and has a main span of 320 feet.  It is one of the most photographed bridges in the world because of its location along the beautiful central California coast, and has frequently been used in automobile commercials.

Bixby Creek Bridge is important historically because it introduced automobile travel to Big Sur, connecting the remote coastal towns to each other.  Before the bridge was completed by Ward Engineering Company in 1932, coastal travelers endured rough wagon roads over precipitous ridges and valleys.  The 30 mile journey from Monterey to the Big Sur River valley could take three days round trip. The design engineer for the Bridge was Norman Raab, who also designed the Donner Summit Bridge (a concrete arch bridge near Truckee, CA).

The bridge was retrofitted in 1997 as part of the Caltrans Phase II seismic retrofit program.  The retrofit solidifies the bridge's structural and landmark status for the next generation of Californians.

View of the Pacific Ocean from the Bixby Creek Bridge

External links

• Essay discussing the building and social aspects of the bridge
• Structurae [en: Bixby Creek Bridge (1933)]