The Bidwell Bar Bridge, in

Oroville, California Oroville (''Oro'', Spanish for "Gold" and ''Ville'', French for "town") is a city in and the county seat of Butte County, California, United States. Its population was 15,506 at the 2010 census, up from 13,004 in the 2000 census. After the 20 ...

, is the name of two

suspension bridge A suspension bridge is a type of bridge in which the deck (bridge), deck is hung below suspension wire rope, cables on vertical suspenders. The first modern examples of this type of bridge were built in the early 1800s. Simple suspension bridg ...

s that cross different parts of

Lake Oroville Lake Oroville is a reservoir formed by the Oroville Dam impounding the Feather River, located in Butte County, California, Butte County, northern California. The lake is situated northeast of the city of Oroville, California, Oroville, within th ...

. The original Bidwell Bar Bridge was the first steel suspension bridge in

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The $35,000, original was completed in December 1855, and was built of materials transported from

Troy, New York Troy is a city in and the county seat of Rensselaer County, New York, United States. It is located on the western edge of the county, on the eastern bank of the Hudson River just northeast of the capital city of Albany, New York, Albany. At the ...

, via

Cape Horn Cape Horn (, ) is the southernmost headland of the Tierra del Fuego archipelago of southern Chile, and is located on the small Hornos Island. Although not the most southerly point of South America (which is Águila Islet), Cape Horn marks the nor ...

. Most of the money was put up by Judge Joseph Lewis, a

Virginia Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic regions of the United States between the East Coast of the United States ...

n who moved to Bidwell's Bar in 1849. The bridge originally crossed the Middle Fork Feather River and is the only one of several suspension bridges built in the area in the 1850s that still remains. It remained open to vehicle traffic until 1954. Construction of the

Oroville Dam Oroville Dam is an earthfill embankment dam on the Feather River east of the city of Oroville, California, in the Sierra Nevada foothills east of the Sacramento Valley. At 770 feet (235 m) high, it is the tallest dam in the U.S. and serv ...

flooded the canyon where the Feather River ran as well as the town of Bidwell's Bar, and preservationists arranged for the relocation of the bridge in 1966 to the south side of the lake, where it is still open to foot traffic. Its original site is now inundated by the lake. A replacement bridge was constructed in 1965 and is long. The bridge is built a mile and a half upstream from its original location. At the time, it was one of the highest suspension bridges in the world above the original streambed, but with the creation of the lake, the bridge now sits just above the water level when the lake is full. The bridge is signed as part of State Route 162. The original bridge is registered as a

California Historical Landmark A California Historical Landmark (CHL) is a building, structure, site, or place in the U.S. state of California that has been determined to have statewide historical landmark significance. Criteria Historical significance is determined by meetin ...

and it was declared a

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United Stat ...

by the

American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...

. The

Mother Orange Tree The Mother Orange Tree is the oldest living orange tree in Northern California, United States. Planted in 1854, the California Historical Landmark is located in Oroville. History Originally planted in Bidwell's Bar near the Bidwell Bar Bridg ...

, the first

orange Orange most often refers to: *Orange (fruit), the fruit of the tree species '' Citrus'' × ''sinensis'' ** Orange blossom, its fragrant flower ** Orange juice *Orange (colour), the color of an orange fruit, occurs between red and yellow in the vi ...

tree in

Northern California Northern California (commonly shortened to NorCal) is a geocultural region that comprises the northern portion of the U.S. state of California, spanning the northernmost 48 of the state's List of counties in California, 58 counties. Northern Ca ...

(purchased by Judge Lewis), is located near the California landmark

commemorative plaque A commemorative plaque, or simply plaque, or in other places referred to as a historical marker, historic marker, or historic plaque, is a plate of metal, ceramic, stone, wood, or other material, bearing text or an image in relief, or both, ...

References

External links

ASCE Historic Civil Engineering Landmark- Bidwell Bar Suspension BridgeBridgemeister.com — entry for the 1855 Bidwell Bar BridgeBridgemeister.com — entry for the 1967 Bidwell Bar Bridge
* * * (original span) *{{Structurae , id=20000563 , title=Bidwell Bar Bridge (current span) Bridges in Butte County, California Road bridges in California Pedestrian bridges in California Suspension bridges in California Bridges completed in 1855 Bridges completed in 1967 Feather River Former road bridges in the United States California Historical Landmarks Historic American Buildings Survey in California Historic American Engineering Record in California Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks Oroville, California Relocated buildings and structures in California Steel bridges in the United States 1855 establishments in California

See also

References

External links