The Colorado Street Bridge

THE COLORADO STREET BRIDGE DRAFT restoration project photographs 1991-1993 The Colorado Street Bridge Restoration Project 1991-1993 Tavo Olmos ~ Photographer DRAFT B Kiewit Pacific Company De Leuw, Cather & Company City of Pasadena, Public Works Department Forward The Colorado Street Bridge by Claire Bogaard 1886 Pasadena City Incorporation In a city famous for its great architecture, the Colo- Pasadena Heritage, the historic preservation organization rado Street Bridge is one of Pasadena’s most loved founded in 1977, sprang into action. To call attention to 1912-1913 Original Construction of Colorado Street Bridge and recognized landmarks. The bridge’s location high the threat to the bridge and to marshal community support, above the Arroyo Seco, with the the organization hosted a party 1913 Dedicated December 13, 1913 San Gabriel Mountains in the on the bridge. The event captured distance to the north, provides widespread interest and support, 1975 Designated Civil Engineering Landmark Chronology a perfect setting for the bridge and there followed years of meet- 1979 Designated Cultural Heritage Landmark with its gracious curves and ings about how to reinforce the grand arches. structure seismically and restore 1981 Placed on National Register of Historic Places design elements lost over the years. Completed in 1913, it was in- As support strengthened, federal 1991-1993 Colorado Street Bridge Rehabilitation Project tended to connect two Pasadena funding was obtained and in 1991 neighborhoods and to assure safe the bridge closed for rehabilitation. 1993 Rededicated December 13, 1993 access during any flooding in the DRAFT Arroyo Seco below. Two years later, the bridge re-opened, and Pasadena During its history, the bridge has Heritage once again hosted the been threatened more than once. “Colorado Street Bridge Party,” a In the 1950s, demolition was biennial event of great popularity. suggested when the 134 Free- way was first proposed. Local residents launched a letter Today, the status of the bridge seems secure and artists campaign calling for protection of the bridge, and the and photographers alike are seen pursuing the bridge bridge was saved. During the 1970s, state engineers as- from its innumerable angles. Thanks to Tavo Olmos’ serted that the bridge needed extensive repairs and was imaginative scenes, the superb photographs of this book no longer needed because the nearby Route 134 could will enhance our appreciation of the bridge as readers carry local traffic. study its detail, beauty and grandeur. iii Introduction A Bridge as a Work of Art by Ann Scheid Many said that “it couldn’t be done,” and more said that its reinforced concrete and fears of earthquake vulner- it was too expensive, said Pasadena Mayor Richard Lee ability threatened the venerated structure, the City of Metcalf, speaking at the opening ceremony in 1913. He Pasadena, the State of California and the federal govern- extolled the bridge not only for its strength and durability, ment all joined with concerned citizens to come up with but also for its beauty, which he maintained would bring almost $30 million to restore the bridge, an act of faith in pleasure to many people. The story of the building of its enduring symbolic value to Pasadena. the Colorado Street Bridge is one of meeting the chal- lenges to create a handsome bridge spanning a recog- Ceremonies to open the Colorado Street Bridge were nized natural wonder, the Arroyo Seco, and to provide a held at Carmelita Park at the corner of Orange Grove grand entrance to Pasadena without destroying either the and Colorado Street on December 13, 1913. After the beauty of the Arroyo or the views from its banks. Sur- speeches, a procession of cars decorated with banners mounting difficult engineering problems and investing and pennants and accompanied by a 16-piece marching over $240,000, Pasadena, Los Angeles County, and the band from Pasadena High School wound through the bridge designers achieved a bridge that won the admira- city from Carmelita to Marengo Avenue and then west DRAFT tion of engi neers and citizens alike. Almost immediately on Colorado Street and across the bridge. Crossing the it became a destination for countless tourists; its curved 1,467-foot long span, the celebrants enjoyed beautiful concrete span of enormous arches prompted a writer views of the Arroyo and the mountains. in Scientific American to proclaim it as “one of the few Completion of the bridge marked the beginning of Pasa- bridges that can properly be classified as a work of art.”1 dena’s civic beautification efforts that eventually culmi- As Mayor Metcalf had prophesied, the bridge proved so nated in the Bennett Plan and the realization of the Civic attractive that it became the subject of countless paint- Center in the 1920s. Already one of the wealthiest cities ings and photographs. It also attracted the depressed and per capita in the nation and a desirable winter resort in deranged, earning the notorious label, “suicide bridge,” a salubrious climate, Pasadena boasted of more cars per and forcing the erection in the 1930s of barriers atop its capita than any other city in the world. Built in a time graceful balustrade. In the 1980s, when deterioration of when motoring for pleasure was a growing pastime, the 1. “Pasadena’s Beautiful Bridge,” Scientific American,December 6, 1913, Vol. 109, No. 23, p. 1. iv v bridge tied into a regional highway network linking the merging its general outlines with those of the landscape, the Arroyo, the fact that the east bank was significantly In the end, the City chose the low bid of $187,500 from San Gabriel Valley to the Pacific Ocean and opened up and considering the various angles from which the bridge higher than the west bank, and the question of whether local contractor and former City councilman John Drake the Arroyo’s west bank to new residential development, would be viewed. Waddell’s reputation satisfied skeptical to build from rim to rim or to build a lower bridge across Mercereau. To save money Mercereau altered Waddell’s promoting the growth of the city. property owners along the Arroyo that the bridge would the ravine. Waddell’s symmetrical design of a series of design, curving the span at the eastern end to shorten not spoil their views or reduce their property values. Wad- nine arches featured a classical balustrade marked by the piers and to avoid the expense of digging out the east Dr. John Low Alexander Waddell of the Kansas City en- dell was also eager to exploit the aesthetic possibilities ornamental lights at each of the piers. The bridge would bank. Construction began in July 1912, with completion gineering firm Waddell & Harrington was selected to de- offered by reinforced concrete; his choice of the material run straight across the ravine, requiring deep footings and set for May 1913. sign Pasadena’s new bridge. Waddell was internationally for the Colorado Street Bridge was path-breaking because also requiring digging out the approach on the east bank. known, having built major bridges throughout the United it would be the longest such span built up to that time. His firm projected a cost of over $240,000, way over the Skilled carpenters, working at the bottom of the gorge, States as well as in Europe and Japan. More importantly, $200,000 budgeted for the project. A proposal from a Los began to build the hundreds of forms needed for the Waddell had studied the aesthetics of bridge design; he For the engineers, construction of the bridge presented Angeles contractor to pour sections of the bridge and then many arches, girders, spandrels and decorative details. advocated harmonizing the bridge with its environment, problems: the difficulty of reaching secure footings in lift them into place was studied but rejected as too costly. Metal workers fabricated special forms for the capitals on the spandrel columns and other decorative elements. DRAFT Horse-powered pulleys hoisted the heavy formwork from One man was killed instantly and two others succumbed stream beneath the new bridge. Known as the Parker-May- From the 1950s through the 1980s, the old bridge re- the streambed to the workmen above. On the east bank later to their injuries. berry Bridge and commissioned by William Smith Mason, mained, until finally it was clear that it needed a com- a gasoline engine mixed the concrete, which was poured the “baby sister” bridge repeated the classical details of the plete makeover. Closed to traffic in 1989, the bridge was into dump cars running along a rail track. The cars moved The accident came at quitting time, just as the last load original and gave access to Mason’s Alta San Rafael Tract re-opened on December 13, 1993, 80 years to the day by gravity out across the gorge on a trestle supported by of concrete was dumped into the forms. Eight workmen on the west bank of the stream. after the original opening. The reconstruction brought the the wood framework and later by the partially constructed were in the danger zone, but two saved themselves by bridge up to current seismic standards, replaced deterio- bridge itself. The liquid concrete was dumped into a hop- jumping to safety onto the solid part of the bridge and In the 1930s, state engineering experts determined that rating concrete and steel, improved roadway safety, and per and then into steel spouts that emptied into the forms three grabbed onto strips of steel rebar protruding from the economies realized in the original construction had preserved the bridge for future generations. As in 1913, where workmen spaded and compacted it. Steel reinforc- the partially finished structure. The men were rescued by reduced the bridge’s capacity to carry heavy loads; the fa- many said it couldn’t be done and more said it was too ing bars were fastened securely in the forms to hold firm their comrades, who extended ladders out to help them mous curve at the east end that had saved so much money expensive.

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