Long Ravine Trestle | |
---|---|
Coordinates | 39°07′25″N 120°56′24″W / 39.1235°N 120.9401°W |
Carries | Roseville Subdivision |
Crosses | Long Ravine, I-80 |
Locale | Colfax, California |
Owner | Union Pacific Railroad |
Rail characteristics | |
No. of tracks | 2 |
Track gauge | 1,435 mm (4 ft 8+1⁄2 in) standard gauge |
History | |
Constructed by | Southern Pacific Railroad |
Rebuilt | 1890, 1912/1913 |
Location | |
Long Ravine Trestle is a pair of deck plate girder railway bridges near Colfax, California.[1] They carry the Union Pacific Railroad Roseville Subdivision over Long Ravine and Interstate 80, traversing the Sierra Nevada. The original crossing was a three-span Howe truss bridge with wooden trestle approaches, constructed as part of the first transcontinental railroad.[2] The Nevada County Narrow Gauge Railroad was subsequently constructed under the bridge between 1875 and 1876.[3] The trestle portions of the bridge were replaced with embankments by this time.[4] The original wooden trestle was replaced with an iron structure in 1890.[5] Southern Pacific double tracked the line and constructed the two modern bridges, completed in 1912 and 1913,[6] to carry the rails. The southern span was retrofitted in the late 1958 to allow for the new U.S. Route 40 freeway to be routed underneath.[6] The bridge is predominantly used for freight trains, but is utilized by the daily Amtrak California Zephyr.