Here are a few pictures of my next bridge project.
The bridge was built in 1901
Here is another view looking across the river (from Google street view).
Poor quality, but the circle represents a large 25' deep hole. Upstream of the hole, the water is shallow, with it dropping straight off into the hole. The X represents an old house foundation.
Here are some old photos we discovered during the preliminary phase of this project (1890's).
The upper photo shows the hole and a house in the background.
The lower photo shows the same as well as a small walk bridge (in the same location as the 1901 bridge we are replacing).
The piles of tailings are still there, people dig through them to find small gold nuggets that were stuck to clay that was stuck to the rocks.
A house remained until the 80's when the Forest Service burned it down along with all the rest of the historical cabins in the forest. It may have been re-modeled or replaced, but we will never know. Should have been a crime!
Here is a photo of the house in our 100 year flood (1964).
The bridge approach washed out and was replaced as the final repair.
This project has been going on since 1993. We have been battling environmental issues as well as historical issues. The rock tailings were deemed to be part of a mining complex and could not be disturbed. The bridge is also historical. We almost had to leave it in place, build another bridge next to it. This would have resulted in the maintenance of 2 bridges. It is so odd that it was ok that the federal gov. burned the cabin down, but we have had a heck of a time building a bridge hundreds of feet away. Our bridge will some day be considered historical and will have to be studied.
I thought the photos were interesting. It was also interesting that the hole never filled up with gravel after 120 years. You can bet I will be watching the gravel during the footing excavations. The bridge will be match marked and salvaged to be erected somwhere else, probably in a park setting. JRL
Cool man.
Fascinating photos, both old and new. Thanks GunMan. Can you give us a hint as to the the general location of this bridge? A lat/lon for GoogleEarth would be appreciated. Reason I ask is that the countryside in those photos is very similar to where I live. Although I know it's not anywhere around here (the fact that Google has a streetview of it removes that possibility), the similarity is striking. It looks like a place I would like to visit and learn more about.
Thanks, Bill
very cool. kind neat to imagine working on that original crew.
That storm turned the Eel River in Northern California into a raging torrent. It wiped out the town of Weott in Humboldt County which was located down on the old highway (now The Avenue of the Giants). The entire town moved to higher ground after that.
There is a sign about 2/3s of the way up the door frame at the Burlington Visitor Center in Humboldt Redwoods State Park. A year after they finished revamping the whole building I made an off-hand remark to the Superintendent that if it got that high before it could get that high again. He had kind of a shocked look on his face and said, "We never thought of that." Uh oh the Tactless Ranger rides again, oh well, I can't help myself. Maybe I'm really Obviousman.
Thanks for the pictures and the info. I love projects like this. Our company does some remediation and it's always fun to do the research to see how it got to where it is today.
Bill, I do not have google earth at the moment. It's Ash Creek Bridge in Siskiyou County, ca.
Located along state hwy 96 where ash creek road and the klamath river road take off.
I'll spost a few kml files of a few neat places in the county on monday. Our terrain changes very quickly. high desert, valleys, steep timbered county, high alpine, 2500' valleys to 9000' peaks.
In the first picture you will see some mine tailings up on the hill from what appears to be a tunnel. Thats the indian girl mine. They found rough float gold in the river, then followed it up that steep face till they found a shallow rotten quartz vein (rich with gold) running parallel to the river. It was easily mined. I believe there is a collapsed tunnel with an old ore cart up there. The old iron tracks are sticking out of the hillside. I have always wanted to search for float gold below the mine, but it is too steep, rocks will roll down onto hwy 96. jrl
> Bill, I do not have google earth at the moment. It's Ash Creek Bridge in Siskiyou County, ca.
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> Located along state hwy 96 where ash creek road and the klamath river road take off.
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I thought I recognized that bridge!! Drove by there many a times on some of my Oregon - California adventures. Next time I drive down I plan to go see your other bridge project, too! :bye: :good:
Great photo's GunMan. The scenario is interesting that the miners "found rough float gold in the river, then followed it up that steep face till they found a shallow rotten quartz vein". I have surveyed a couple of gold claims to patent where the claimants did just that. They panned up an unbelievable amount of steep terrain and found the "mother lode" when it became exposed on the surface. Facinating to see how the resolve, hard work and perseverance worked out for those rugged individuals.
Pablo
