Benicia–Martinez Bridge

Benicia–Martinez Bridge
Aerial view of the Benicia–Martinez Bridge. From left to right: Southbound span (1962) Railway (1930) and Northbound span (2007)
Official name	George Miller, Jr. Memorial Bridge[1] (southbound span), Congressman George Miller Benicia–Martinez Bridge[1] (northbound span)
Carries	9 lanes of I-680, pedestrian and bicycle paths on southbound span[2]
Crosses	Carquinez Strait
Locale	Martinez, California and Benicia, California
Maintained by	Caltrans
ID number	28 0153
Design	Truss bridge (southbound span), segmental bridge (northbound span)
Total length	1.7 miles (2.7 km, 8,976 feet)
Longest span	528 feet (160.93 m) (7 spans)
Clearance below	138 feet (42.1 m)
Toll	Cars (northbound only) $5.00 (cash or FasTrak), $2.50 (carpools during peak hours, FasTrak only)
Coordinates	38°02′26″N 122°07′23″W / 38.0406°N 122.1230°W / 38.0406; -122.1230Coordinates: 38°02′26″N 122°07′23″W / 38.0406°N 122.1230°W / 38.0406; -122.1230

The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay; the spans link Benicia, California to the north with Martinez, California to the south. The two automobile bridge spans are usually referred to collectively as "The Benicia Bridge".

The 1.2 mile (1.9 km) deck truss bridge opened in 1962 as a replacement for the last automotive ferry service in the San Francisco Bay Area. The 1962 bridge consists of seven 528-foot (161 m) spans which provide 138 feet (42 m) of vertical clearance, carrying four lanes of traffic in the southbound direction, as well as a pathway for pedestrians and bicyclists.^[2] A 1.7 mile (2.7 km) bridge was built alongside and opened on August 25, 2007 which carries five lanes of northbound traffic. The cost to construct the 1962 span was US$25 million and US$1.3 billion to build the 2007 span.^[3] The bridge is part of Interstate 680, itself a major transportation link, and connects several other heavily traveled freeways.

Between the two vehicle bridges is a railroad bridge owned and operated by the Union Pacific Railroad. The railroad bridge was the first bridge at this location, built between April 1929 and October 1930 by the Southern Pacific Railroad. It is used by Union Pacific and BNSF (trackage rights) freight trains, as well as 36 scheduled Amtrak passenger trains each weekday. Passenger trains include the long-distance trains California Zephyr and Coast Starlight as well as Capitol Corridor inter-city commuter trains.

Current tolls

The Benicia–Martinez bridge toll plaza is located at the south end of the bridge. Tolls are only charged for northbound traffic. The toll plaza has nine lanes with toll booths and another nine lanes with open road tolling (ORT) configured in two zones. One ORT zone has two travel lanes and four shoulder lanes. The other ORT zone has one carpool travel lane with two shoulder lanes. This bridge is the first open road tolling facility in Northern California and the first bridge with open road tolling in California.

Adjacent railroad bridge

A railroad bridge owned by Union Pacific Railroad spans the waterway between the two vehicle bridges. The railroad bridge was built for the Southern Pacific Railroad between 1928 and 1930. Prior to the railroad bridge's opening in 1930, the railroad used a ferry between Benicia and Port Costa, California. The ferry, built at Oakland, California in 1879 and named the Solano, was the world's largest train ferry. In 1914, a second ferry named the Contra Costa was built. The ferries ended service in 1930 with the completion of the railroad bridge. Burlington Northern and Santa Fe Railway and Amtrak also run here on Trackage rights.

Northbound span

A newer bridge was constructed east of and parallel to the railroad bridge. It measures approximately 1.7 miles (2.7 km). The new bridge carries five lanes of northbound traffic. The older bridge underwent seismic retrofits and now carries four lanes of southbound traffic, as well as a bicycle/pedestrian lane. The bridge construction also included a new toll plaza with nine toll booths, two open road tolling lanes and one carpool lane at the south end of the bridge, although tolls will continue to be charged only for northbound traffic.

The new toll plaza was retrofitted for open road tolling in order to encourage increased FasTrak usage. This required the removal of eight toll booths previously constructed.

The bridge is the largest lightweight concrete segmental bridge in California. The estimated cost of building the bridge was $1.05 billion, the final cost was $1.3 billion. The bridge original estimated cost was around 300 million, it is noted for is large delay in construction and large over cost (over $1 billion). The new bridge opened to public traffic at 10:30pm on August 25, 2007.^[4][5]

See also

• California Pacific Railroad

References

1. ^ ^{a b} "Assembly Concurrent Resloution No. 62". California State Legislature. 2007-07-05. http://info.sen.ca.gov/pub/07-08/bill/asm/ab_0051-0100/acr_62_bill_20070705_amended_asm_v98.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
2. ^ ^{a b} "New Lanes to Open on Southbound Benicia-Martinez Bridge" (PDF) (Press release). Caltrans. 2009-07-29. http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/benicia/docs/benicia_martinez_nr090731.pdf. Retrieved 2009-08-18. 
3. ^ "Bay Area's newest bridge is open for business". 2007-08-26. http://www.timesheraldonline.com//ci_6725729. Retrieved 2007-08-27. 
4. ^ "The Benicia Bridge". Vallejo Times Herald. 2007-08-25. http://www.timesheraldonline.com/ci_6719312. Retrieved 2007-08-25. 
5. ^ "First cars drive over new Benicia Bridge". San Jose Mercury News. 2007-08-25. http://www.mercurynews.com/breakingnews/ci_6719613. Retrieved 2007-09-03. 

External links

• California Dept. of Transportation: Benicia–Martinez Bridge History & Information
• Caltrans' New Benicia–Martinez Bridge project page
• Earth Mechanics Inc. Benicia bridge project page - EMI is the geotechnical engineer for the new bridge
• Benicia–Martinez Bridge may cost millions more - Contra Costa Times article about technical difficulties
• Benicia-Martinez Bridge Toll Plaza traffic lanes diagram
• Live Toll Prices for Benicia–Martinez Bridge
• Benicia–Martinez Bridge (1962) at Structurae
• Benicia Martinez Bridge (2007) at Structurae