Cabrillo Bridge

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Cabrillo Bridge
The bridge as built in 1915, with pond and the "Camino Cabrillo" road underneath.
Carries	El Prado
Crosses	Cabrillo Canyon
Locale	San Diego, California
Total length	approx. 450 feet (140 m)
Height	110 feet (34 m)
Opening date	1915
Coordinates	32°43′53″N 117°09′15″W / 32.731412, -117.154185 (Cabrillo Bridge)Coordinates: 32°43′53″N 117°09′15″W / 32.731412, -117.154185 (Cabrillo Bridge)

The Cabrillo Bridge in Balboa Park (San Diego, California) was the main access across Cabrillo Canyon (formerly known as Pound Canyon, which was used to hold cattle and horses in the late 1800's) built for the Panama-California Exposition dedicated April 12, 1915 by Franklin D. Roosevelt. Building began in December of 1912 under the supervision of Frank P. Allen, Jr. and was designed by Thomas B. Hunter of San Francisco. It was constructed at a cost of $225,154. One million board feet of mostly redwood was used to make the concrete forms alone.

The bridge was intended as a pedestrian pathway to the 1915 Exposition. F. D. Roosevelt made the inagural automobile crossing with the mayor of the city, Charles F. O'Neill. For the next two years, auto traffic was reserved mostly for dignitaries.

By October of 1931, 17 people had "made the leap into eternity", said Mayor Walter Austin. One city offical, after talk of installing suicide prentative measures failed, mentioned that "after a council meeting there are times a councilman might want to make use of a bridge." In 1934, a despondent sailor jumped from the bridge and splashed into the man made lagoon (Laguna de Puente) that at that time lay below. He survived, bruised but living. It was said that when the ambulance arrived, he sat at the edge of the lagoon and complained of a headache.

The structure is easily seen from the scenic Cabrillo Freeway (State Route 163), which is located on the floor of the canyon below.

The east-west traffic atop the two-lane bridge (not visible from State Route 163 below, due to the unusual height of the bridge) is called "El Prado" although many mistakenly refer to the street as Laurel Street, which is located and ends at Sixth Avenue in the City of San Diego) Sixth Avenue forms the western boundary of Balboa Park. Laurel Street continues west to form the southern border of San Diego's International Airport, Lindberg Field, and ends at Harbor Drive on San Diego Harbor.

The unusual height of the bridge, 120 feet, is dictated entirely by the topography of the canyon; Laurel Street continues across the bridge at the same level as the ground on either end of the bridge, while State Route 163 passes beneath it at approximately the level of the original canyon floor. The bridge extends 916 feet across. The seven arches are each 56 feet across. In June of 1950, city workers installed wrought iron fencing on both parapets of the bridge.

In July 1951, a small fire ignited in the easternmost span of the bridge. Redwood timbers, used as concrete forms in the original construction, smoldered for several hours. Once put out, the blaze was quickly forgotten. But as Balboa Park historian Richard Amero noted, the fire was an “omen,” and “nothing was done to reduce the likelihood of future fires.”

The “future” fire erupted before dawn on June 17, 2004. Once again, aged wooden concrete forms ignited, possibly the result of arson, inside the bridge columns. The fire was difficult to reach and extinguish. Firefighters saved the structure by punching holes in the bridge sidewalks with jackhammers to pump in foam and water.

The near-disaster spurred a major rehabilitation of the Cabrillo Bridge. A one-year, $3.5 million Caltrans project repaired broken concrete, replaced corroded steel, finally removed old wood from the original construction and ensured the seismic safety of the aging span.

The Cabrillo Bridge portion of Laurel Street is one of a number of access routes to the cluster of museums located at the "Prado" (the former 1915 Panama Exposition site) which is east of the bridge along the west side of Park Boulevard.

There is no direct access route between State Route 163 and Laurel Street.