Another Google Earth image. As part of their addition of buildings to their
image database, Google has added some bridges. They didn?t remove the original
overhead view of the bridge, so it is now an imaginary roller-coaster ride that
drops 730? down and back up again.
Here?s some info on it:
Fun
Facts
- The Foresthill Bridge opened for traffic in
1973.
- The bridge measures 2,428-feet from one side
to the other.
- At more than 730 feet above the American
River, it is the highest bridge in California, the fourth highest in the
United States, and the ninth highest bridge in the world.
- This famous and scenic bridge can be seen in
several movies. The scene that it is perhaps most known for is in the Movie
?xXx? starring Vin Diesel. In this movie, Vin Diesel?s character drives a
Corvette off the bridge, jumps from the car in mid-fall, then parachutes down
to the American River Canyon. Foresthill Bridge can also be seen in the movies
?Phantom? (1996), and ?The Ugly Truth? (2009).
- Foresthill Bridge is also commonly referred
to as the Auburn-Foresthill Bridge, or simply the Auburn Bridge.
- The Foresthill Bridge was originally
constructed to accompany an Auburn Dam that was never built. The dam would
have created a reservoir that would have innundated the original
bridge.
- The seismic retrofit will add approximately
2.2 million lbs. of steel to the bridge.
- The new cat walk will also use another
350,450 lbs. of structural steel.
- The bridge was built from each side outward,
meeting in the middle.
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