The Fruitvale Bridge and the Fruitvale Avenue Bridge (the latter officially the Miller-Sweeney Bridge at Fruitvale Avenue) are parallel bridges that cross the

Oakland Estuary The Oakland Estuary is the strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, separating the cities of Oakland and Alameda and the Alameda Island from the East Bay mainland. On its western end, it connects to San Francisco Bay San Francis ...

, linking the cities of

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay A ...

and

Alameda An alameda is a Avenue (landscape), street or path lined with trees () and may refer to: Places Canada *Alameda, Saskatchewan, town in Saskatchewan **Grant Devine Dam, formerly ''Alameda Dam'', a dam and reservoir in southern Saskatchewan Chile ...

in California. The Fruitvale Bridge is a vertical-lift Warren through truss railroad

moveable bridge A moveable bridge, or movable bridge, is a bridge that moves to allow passage for boats or barges. In American English, the term is synonymous with , and the latter is the common term, but drawbridge can be limited to the narrower, historical d ...

, while the Fruitvale Avenue Bridge is a steel stringer road

bascule bridge A bascule bridge (also referred to as a drawbridge or a lifting bridge) is a moveable bridge with a counterweight that continuously balances a span, or leaf, throughout its upward swing to provide clearance for boat traffic. It may be single- or ...

that connects Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland with Tilden Way in Alameda.

Rail bridge

The rail bridge is immediately northwest of the Miller-Sweeney road bridge. The rail bridge connected Fruitvale Avenue in Oakland with Tilden Way in Alameda. It has been out of service since 2000.

History

This

lift bridge A vertical-lift bridge or just lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck. The vertical lift offers several benefits over other movable bridges such as the bascule and swin ...

was constructed in 1951 to replace an earlier bridge that originally served the SP interurban trains from

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...

(SP's Interurban Electric Railway discontinued service in 1941). From 1951 until September 11, 1996, the

Southern Pacific Railroad The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...

operated freight service across the bridge to serve shippers in Alameda and to connect with the

Alameda Belt Line The Alameda Belt Line was incorporated on January 12, 1925, to take over about of trackage constructed by the city of Alameda, California, on Clement Avenue in 1918. The company acquired the property on February 17, 1926, and was jointly owned ...

railroad. After SP was acquired by

Union Pacific The Union Pacific Railroad , legally Union Pacific Railroad Company and often called simply Union Pacific, is a freight-hauling railroad that operates 8,300 locomotives over routes in 23 U.S. states west of Chicago and New Orleans. Union Paci ...

on September 11, 1996, UP provided infrequent service to Alameda until service was discontinued in 2000.

Design

The right-of-way still exists through the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

, however, the tracks on both sides of the bridge have been severed and the span remains raised at 65 feet above water level, except when operated for maintenance and testing. The bridge is owned by the

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers , colors = , anniversaries = 16 June (Organization Day) , battles = , battles_label = Wars , website = , commander1 = ...

and is operated by the County of Alameda. The Miller-Sweeney bridge tender, a county employee, operates the railroad bridge from controls in the Miller-Sweeney control house. The last train across the bridge ran in 2000.

Road bridge

The road bridge is officially named the Miller-Sweeney Bridge at Fruitvale Avenue. It has no overhead steel structure like the other road bridges between Alameda and Oakland (the

High Street Bridge The High Street Bridge is a double-leaf bascule drawbridge spanning 296 feet of the Oakland Estuary in the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. It links the cities of Oakland and Alameda. The bridge is opened approximately 1,400 ti ...

and the

Park Street Bridge The Park Street Bridge is a double-leaf bascule drawbridge spanning 372 feet of the Oakland Estuary in the San Francisco Bay Area. It links the cities of Oakland and Alameda. In a year, the bridge is opened approximately 1700 times and carries ...

) so tall vehicles should use the Miller-Sweeney Bridge. Miller-Sweeney opens approximately 1,600 times per year to accommodate marine traffic.

History

A railroad-only swing

truss bridge A truss bridge is a bridge whose load-bearing superstructure is composed of a truss, a structure of connected elements, usually forming triangular units. The connected elements (typically straight) may be stressed from tension, compression, or ...

at this location initially opened in 1894. It was regraded to accommodate road traffic, and the train tracks were removed in 1951 with the completion of the dedicated vertical-lift rail bridge. The present Miller-Sweeney Bridge was completed in 1973 by the US Army Corps of Engineers and turned over to Alameda County in 1975. Miller-Sweeney won a prize bridge award for movable spans from the

American Institute of Steel Construction The American Institute of Steel Construction (AISC) is a not-for-profit technical institute and trade association A trade association, also known as an industry trade group, business association, sector association or industry body, is an or ...

in 1974. The Miller-Sweeney Bridge was damaged in the

1989 Loma Prieta earthquake The 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake occurred on California's Central Coast on October 17 at local time. The shock was centered in The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park in Santa Cruz County, approximately northeast of Santa Cruz on a section of t ...

and was damaged again in 1991 when a fully loaded barge hit the span.

Design

The Miller-Sweeney Bridge is normally opened by two motors, which take 66 seconds to fully open the bridge to 79°. The motors typically operate in tandem, drawing electricity from

Alameda Municipal Power Alameda Municipal Power (formerly Alameda Power & Telecom) is a municipal utility serving the City of Alameda, California. Founded in 1887, it provides electricity to c. 34,000 residential, commercial, and municipal customers at rates up to 20 ...

. Under emergency conditions, a portable generator may be used to power the single backup motor, which takes 20 minutes to fully open the bridge.

References

External links

* * {{Alameda, California Bridges in Alameda County, California Railroad bridges in California Buildings and structures in Alameda, California Buildings and structures in Oakland, California Steel bridges in the United States Vertical lift bridges in California San Francisco Bay Trail Bridges completed in 1951 1951 establishments in California Road bridges in California