Bixby Bridge
Drive the Pacific Coast Highway and you have to cross Bixby Bridge in
California, ten miles north of Big Sur and 30 minutes south of Monterey.
Bixby Bridge
You have to cross the bridge as it's the only way to drive
the Pacific Coast Highway along the California coast, and most people will pull
in at the viewpoint on the ocean side of the highway, just north of the bridge.
It allows you to look back at it and get a great photo, as well as more photos
along the spectacular Big Sur coastline. Selfies await!
Bixby Bridge in Big Sur in California
Bixby Bridge History
The full name of the bridge is the Bixby Creek Bridge, and
it's sometimes called the Bixby Canyon Bridge, though mostly it's just called
the Bixby Bridge.
Work started on the bridge in 1931 and it was completed in
1932, although the highway over the bridge required a further five years to
finish.
Bixby Bridge
Prior to the new highway opening, there was a detour of several miles inland where the Old Coast Road originally crossed the canyon. This road was often closed in winter due to bad weather, which then meant a much longer detour inland for anyone wanting or needing to travel the coast along here.
Bixby Bridge
Bixby Bridge Facts
and Figures
The bridge cost about $200,000 (equivalent to over $3
million today). At a height of 260 feet (79 m) it became the highest
single-span arch bridge in the world, and it still is one of the tallest
single-span bridges even 90 years later.
It's 714 feet (218 m) long in total, with 360 feet (110 m) of that being the arch. This made
it the longest single-span concrete bridge in California at the time.
It is also 24-foot (7.3 m) wide, which means it doesn't meet
modern standards which require bridges to be at least 32 feet (9.8 m) wide to
accommodate modern large vehicles. Don't worry, though, RVs can still fit
across it!
Bixby Bridge
So, Who Was Bixby?
Charles Henry Bixby was an East Coast businessman and
entrepreneur who moved to California in 1852 and did a tremendous amount of
work while he was there. He bought land around what's now called Bixby Bridge,
he raised cattle, he logged timber, he built a limekiln, and he built a sawmill.
The creek here was originally called Mill Creek, before the name was changed to
Bixby Creek.
Bixby Bridge
Bixby was also responsible for the first road that existed as a precursor of the current Pacific Coast Highway. He asked the county to build a road connecting Bixby Creek with other places along this stretch of coast but they refused, saying no-one would ever want to live there. He therefore got a team of men together and built it himself.
Best Guide Covering Big Sur
The first stretch
north to Carmel Mission required 23 bridges to be constructed. He later built
the road south towards Big Sur, though the short stretch here over Bixby Creek
required them to make the inland detour.
Bixby Bridge
Scenic Highway
The 72-mile (116-km) section of the Pacific Coast Highway
north and south of Bixby Bridge was the first road in California to be
designated as a Scenic Highway in 1965. The official dedication ceremony was
performed the following year by President Lyndon Johnson's wife, Lady Bird
Johnson. The ceremony took place at Bixby Bridge.
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