Rio Vista Bridge facts for kids
Quick facts for kids Rio Vista Bridge |
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The Helen Madere Memorial Bridge crosses the Sacramento River at Rio Vista, California.
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| Coordinates | 38°09′31″N 121°41′02″W / 38.158713°N 121.683819°W |
| Carries | 2 lanes of  SR 12 |
| Crosses | Sacramento River |
| Locale | Rio Vista, California, U.S. |
| Official name | Helen Madere Memorial Bridge |
| Named for | Helen Madere |
| Owner | Caltrans |
| NBI | 23 0024 |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | Vertical-lift through-truss (Warren truss with verticals) |
| Total length | 2,890 feet (881 m), including 441-foot (134 m) concrete slab approach spans |
| Width | 26-foot (8 m) roadway with 4-foot (1 m) wide sidewalks on both sides |
| Longest span | 306-foot (93 m) lift span |
| Number of spans | 13 |
| Piers in water | 12 |
| Clearance above | minimum 15 feet (4.6 m) through truss |
| Clearance below | 135 feet (41 m) (drawbridge raised) |
| History | |
| Constructed by | Lord and Bishop (substructure) |
| Fabrication by | Judson Pacific Murphy (superstructure) |
| Construction begin |
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| Construction end | 30 October 1958 (substructure) |
| Construction cost | US$4,100,000 (equivalent to $40,560,000 in 2022) |
| Opened | 12 January 1946 (eastern steel truss) 1 April 1960 (western vertical-lift truss portion) |
| Replaces | 1919 composite bascule bridge |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 10,000 – 21,000 cars (2013) |
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The Rio Vista Bridge is also known as the Helen Madere Memorial Bridge. It's a special kind of bridge called a vertical-lift bridge. This means a part of the bridge can be lifted up to let boats pass underneath. The bridge carries California State Route 12 across the Sacramento River in Rio Vista, California.
The bridge we see today was finished in 1960. It's one of many moveable bridges in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta. These bridges are important for both cars and boats. The bridge is named after Helen Madere, who was a vice-mayor of Rio Vista. A vice-mayor is like a deputy leader of a city. In 2013, about 21,000 cars used the bridge every day.
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The First Bridge: 1919 Bascule Bridge
The first bridge over the Sacramento River in this spot was built in 1918 and opened in January 1919. It cost about $260,000 back then. This old bridge was a mix of different parts. It had a concrete arch, a special "double-leaf bascule" section, and long timber sections. A bascule bridge is like a seesaw, where a part of the bridge lifts up.
The Current Bridge: 1960 Lift Bridge
The 1919 bridge was replaced over many years, from 1943 to 1960. The new bridge has thirteen steel sections called "truss spans." One of these is the main lift span, which is about 306-foot (93 m) long. The total length of the bridge is about 2,890 feet (880 m). This includes about 441-foot (134 m) of concrete sections on the west side. When it was finished, the Rio Vista Bridge won an award for being a great movable bridge.
The main lift part of the bridge is very heavy, weighing about 750 short tons (680 t). It has counterweights that weigh the same amount. Two electric motors, each 30-horsepower (22 kW), help lift this huge weight. If the power goes out, a diesel generator can provide backup power. The bridge can be fully raised in less than 90 seconds. However, the whole process of opening and closing can stop road traffic for 8 to 25 minutes. When the bridge is fully raised, boats have about 135 feet (41 m) of space to pass underneath.
Building the Bridge: 1943–1960
Less than 30 years after it was built, the timber parts of the 1919 bridge were in bad shape. So, work began in 1943 to replace them with stronger steel sections. This eastern steel part, about 1,300-foot (400 m) long, was finished in 1945. Traffic was then moved onto these new steel sections.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers approved replacing the rest of the bridge in 1950. Different companies worked on different parts. One company built the concrete supports (substructure) starting in 1957. Another company, Judson Pacific Murphy, built the steel upper parts (superstructure) starting in 1958.
The steel sections were built in a yard in Richmond. Then, they were put on barges and floated up the river to the bridge site. A huge crane on a barge lifted them into place. The new bridge replaced the old 1919 bascule bridge. Once the new bridge was complete, the old structure was taken down by July 1960.
1967 Ship Crash
On January 15, 1967, a ship named Ilice crashed into the bridge. It was a foggy day, and the ship missed the open drawbridge. The crash destroyed a large steel section of the bridge, about 144-foot (44 m) long and weighing 400-short-ton (360 t)! Luckily, no one was seriously hurt. Two teenagers on the bridge were thrown into the river but were rescued.
A temporary repair was quickly put in place. A ferry also carried cars across the river while the bridge was being fixed. Later, a huge crane barge called the Marine Boss helped put a permanent new steel section in place in June 1967.
Renamed for Helen Madere
In 1998, the Rio Vista Bridge was officially named the Helen Madere Memorial Bridge. This was to honor Helen Madere, who was a former vice-mayor of Rio Vista. She worked hard to improve road safety on California State Route 12.
Bridge Gets Stuck!
Sometimes, the bridge gets stuck when it's open for boats.
- On July 7, 2012, it got stuck open for several hours because of a mechanical problem.
- On August 9, 2018, it got stuck open again for ten hours. Work crews had to lower it by hand. When the bridge is stuck open, cars have to drive an extra 80 miles (130 km) to get around it!
- It couldn't be raised again until August 16, which stopped boats carrying rice and cement. Caltrans, the state transportation department, said repairs would take about 30 days. They had to raise the bridge by hand every few days to let boats pass. The repairs were finished on September 14.
Future Plans for the Bridge
The bridge opens often for ships, sometimes nearly seven times a day. This causes long lines of cars, sometimes up to 0.75 miles (1.21 km) long, and delays of up to 30 minutes. Since more ships and cars are expected in the future, people have been studying ways to replace the bridge. The main goals are to either remove the need for a drawbridge or make it open less often, and to make the road wider from two lanes to four.
Studies have looked at different ideas, like building a new high bridge or even a tunnel. A high bridge would need very long ramps to reach the necessary height. A tunnel would go under the river. In 2010, a tunnel was thought to be the best idea. However, local businesses worried that changing the road route might hurt their sales.
A 2012 study by Caltrans estimated that a new high-level bridge could cost about $1 billion. This study concluded that a fixed high bridge or a tunnel would be the best ways to handle both ship and road traffic. They called it "the single most important investment" for improving State Route 12.
Bridge Preservation Project
Caltrans is working on a two-part project to keep the current bridge in good shape.
- The first part involves cleaning and painting the bridge. This work was expected to finish in winter 2020 and cost about $37.1 million.
- After painting, the mechanical and electrical systems will be updated. This part of the project is planned to start in spring 2022 and is expected to cost between $11.9 million and $19.2 million.
- Sacramento River Bridge in the Structurae database. Retrieved on 22 July 2015.
