Gerald Desmond Bridge

Infobox_Bridge
bridge_name= Gerald Desmond Bridge


caption=
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carries= 4 lanes of I-710
crosses= Cerritos Channel
locale= Terminal Island and Long Beach, California
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id=
design= Arch bridge
mainspan= convert|1053|ft|m|0
length= convert|5134|ft|m|0
clearance= convert|155|ft|m|0
below=
traffic=
open= 1968
closed=
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coordinates= coord|33|45|52|N|118|13|16|W|region:US_type:landmark|display=inline,title

The Gerald Desmond Bridge is an arch bridge that carries 4 lanes of Interstate 710 across the Cerritos Channel between Terminal Island and Long Beach, California. The bridge is named after Gerald Desmond, a prominent civic leader and a former city attorney for the City of Long Beach.

The bridge was designed by Moffatt & Nichol Engineers and was constructed by Bethlehem Steel Corporation. Ground breaking for the construction of the bridge occurred on October 19, 1965, and was completed in 1968. It has a convert|410|ft|m|sing=on long suspended main span, convert|155|ft|m|sing=on vertical clearance over the Cerritos Channel, and connects Terminal Island on its east side to downtown Long Beach.

This bridge has developed various maintenance problems and the Port of Long Beach has suggested it would be more economical to replace the bridge with a new cable-stayed bridge with convert|200|ft|m of vertical clearance. This would allow access to the port for even the tallest container ships and would be the first long-span cable-stayed bridge in California. In order for the bridge to be so tall, long approaches are required to allow heavy trucks to cross the structure. A joint venture of Parsons Transportation Group and HNTB is performing preliminary engineering for the main span and the approaches. The project is estimated to cost $800 million and is scheduled for completion by 2016.

The bridge had a featured role in the film "Head", featuring rock group The Monkees, released in 1968. The first scene of the film features the actual dedication ceremony for the bridge, which is interrupted by the group members, who commit suicide by running into the middle of the ceremony and jumping off the bridge.

External links

*Structurae|id=s0009331|title=Gerald Desmond Bridge

Crossings navbox
structure = Bridges
place = Cerritos Channel
bridge = Gerald Desmond Bridge
bridge signs =
upstream text = West
upstream = Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge
upstream signs =
downstream text = East
downstream = Pacific Ocean
downstream signs =