Bridges to nowhere — for now

Pacifica Tribune
October 1, 2008

Bridges to nowhere — for now

By Tom Sullivan CORRESPONDENT

The California State Department of Transportation (Caltrans) celebrated a major milestone Friday, Sept. 26 with the on-time completion of two cast-in-place cantilever concrete bridges and a public walking tour of the Devil’s Slide Bridges and Tunnels Project construction site.

Both bridges, which span 1,000 feet, rise to a height of 125 feet above Shamrock Ranch cost $43 million to build and will connect the yet-unfinished twin tunnels to realign a one-mile segment of State Route 1 between Pacifica and Half Moon Bay. The complete project is paid for by $325 million in federal emergency relief funding.

Caltrans director Will Kempton joined State Senator Leland Yee, San Mateo County Supervisor Mark Gordon, Pacifica Mayor Jim Vreeland and community activist Lennie Roberts and other officials praising the project which will provide a new gateway to recreational opportunities along the San Mateo coastline and the California Coastal safeguards and protection for endangered species, such as the California Red Legged Frog.

The bridges, built by Disney Construction, which delivered its first major construction contract for the State of California leaves a small footprint on the environment below. A number of trend-setting, environmentally friendly structures have been incorporated in the project.

Pacificans have watched as each segment was cast in place, stacked up like Lego blocks and spread out across the valley towards existing State Route 1.

Work continues on the yet-to-be-completed tunnels be named in honor of the late U.S. Congressman Tom Lantos. Construction crews working 24-hour shifts have excavated more than 1,500 feet in the northern bore and more than 1,100 feet in the southern bore. Each tunnel will ultimately measure over 4,000 feet.

Page last updated September 13, 2010.