December 25, 2024, 6:31 am | Read time: 4 minutes
Since 1932, the now iconic Bixby Creek Bridge has spectacularly spanned a canyon along California’s Pacific coast. A technical masterpiece at the time, the iconic structure still impresses countless travelers today as one of the proverbial highlights on the legendary Highway 1. Nevertheless, the bridge was only used for the first time five years after its completion – and there was a bizarre reason for this.
In California’s Monterey County, south of Monterey and Carmel-by-the-Sea, there is a structure that still takes travelers’ breath away a good 90 years after its completion. However, it is not just the Bixby Creek Bridge itself that is spectacular, but above all the location of the bridge in the rugged hills of the Pacific coast.
Overview
The Bridge Was Not Usable at the Beginning
With a direct view of the wild ocean, its crossing is probably a proverbial highlight for every driver on the legendary Pacific Coast Highway. Its construction was an engineering masterpiece at the time. And yet, for an unusual reason, it was not even usable until five years after completion.
It was the beginning of the 1930s. The US was in the midst of a nationwide economic crisis, known today as the “Great Depression”. According to the Monterey County Historical Society, the Californian region of Big Sur had only rudimentary connections to the state’s transportation network at the time. It was therefore difficult to reach via dilapidated roads. A deep, V-shaped canyon posed a particular problem for the planners of a road known at the time as Highway 56. In the end, the decision was made to build a bridge almost 80 meters high to cross the canyon. It was the birth of the Bixby Creek Bridge.
45,000 Bags of Cement
The designers faced several not-insignificant challenges. First of all, the incredible quantities of building materials required for the Bixby Creek Bridge had to be delivered. At the time, the “road” leading up to the gorge was nothing more than a bumpy patchwork. For truck drivers, it was considered extremely dangerous due to its countless hairpin turns. The actual construction raises another question. How could the materials be transported within the gorge to the place where they were needed? In the end, a transport system consisting of platforms and slings was chosen. They are suspended on cables 90 meters above the gorge.
An incredible 45,000 bags of cement were transported across the canyon during the construction period. More than three and a half million kilograms of earth had to be excavated. The scaffolding erected for the construction of the Bixby Creek Bridge consumed more than 90,000 linear meters of wood. Construction finally commenced on November 27, 1931. After Ward Engineering Co. secured a contract valued at over 200,000 dollars for the time. And although there was a break due to the notorious winter storms in California, the new bridge was completed on October 15, 1932.
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No Connection Under the Bridge
Now, there was just one more problem of a bizarre kind. Although technically usable, the Bixby Creek Bridge remained unused for another five years. The reason for this was simply that the road, which today connects San Carmel with San Luis Obispo via San Simeon as Highway 1, had not yet been completed at the time. Incidentally, the bridge is named after Charles Henry Bixby, a Californian businessman and cousin of former US President James K. Polk. He worked for several years in the region now known as Big Sur and is regarded as its most important developer.
Today, the Bixby Creek Bridge is undoubtedly one of the most iconic and sought-after photo spots along Highway 1. It also achieved worldwide fame as the screensaver motif for Apple’s macOS Big Sur operating system. According to Visit California, parking along the road to photograph the bridge has no longer been permitted for safety reasons since September 2024. However, in order to get the most spectacular shot possible, there are specially designated parking bays. If you want to enjoy the view of the bridge and the Pacific Ocean without any distractions, you can also use the daily Monterey-Salinas Transit bus service.