galena creek bridge

You might ask why would a nice looking bridge like this get a poor rating. Well, for one, it was way over budget on construction costs and caused at least a year delay in the opening of the new freeway between Carson City and Reno. Sure it is a engineering marvel, but at what cost? The bridge was envisioned as a legacy to the and by the director of Nevada Department of Transportation at the time Tom Stevens. This monument to his ego costs the state hundreds of millions of dollars and huge delays and even caused on construction firm to abandon the project due to safety concerns with the outlandish design and height. A cheaper and more time efficient solution would have been a lower bridge of standard design and cutting the roadway lower. This would have caused less delays in getting the freeway open and cut costs my millions.So what of the bridge today? Well, when you cross it in a vehicle, you can't even tell you are on the bridge really unless you really know the construction. The safety barrier walls are so high, there is no view of anything but the freeway you are on. This may be to keep driver distraction to a minimum. Totally opposite of the Golden Gate Bridge where you can get spectacular views all the way across the bridge. But like the Golden Gate, our Galena Bridge has attracted suicides already. On Nov. 25, 2014, this bridge had it's first suicide, a 300 foot drop to the ground below. No water landing here! So, now what was accomplished with the extra millions of dollars and delays. Nothing, that could have been done cheaper and not provided a platform for future suicides.

With all the transit confusion going on in cities when a newer piece is added I did not mind riding on the bridge and driving around the exits. When you get on this piece joy ride and take a look at a nice country side then either make it in Reno or try something in Carson city.

Looking up at the largest concrete cathedral arch bridge in the world was a moving religious experience. Our drive across the bridge deck was unremarkable, so we made our approach, through the small community of Pleasant Valley, in the shadow of the bridge, just a few miles south of Reno. An unmarked trail passes under the monumental span, and follows Galena Creek a short distance upstream. The rumble of the creek and rustle of the quaking aspens harmonized with the clickity-clack of the cars crossing the bridge and the hum of their internal combustion engines. Wild flowers in bloom along the cascading creek diverted our attention away from the massive manmade marvel, but only for a moment.By definition, a cathedral arch bridge has no vertical columns connecting the arch and the overlying deck. Completed in the summer of 2012, after 10 years of planning, lawsuits, and construction, the Galena Creek Bridge has a 689-foot wide arch span towering 295 feet high. The elegance and minimalism of the open-span design mirrors the contour and starkness of the surrounding desert hillsides. From beneath, the world’s greatest concrete cathedral arch was a glorious vision, and a fitting place to worship structural engineers, architects, and human achievement.