Fresno River Viaduct, Railway bridge near Madera, United States.
Fresno River Viaduct is a 1,600-foot-long, 25-foot-high concrete railway bridge in Madera County, California, carrying the California High-Speed Rail line over State Route 145, the Fresno River and Raymond Road, just east of Madera. It runs parallel to the BNSF Railway bridge over the Fresno River, roughly 50 metres away.
Construction started in 2015 and was completed in 2018 as part of California's high-speed rail development project. It marked the first permanent structure built specifically for this rail network in the state.
The viaduct is the first permanent structure completed for the California High-Speed Rail Authority's Merced–Fresno–Bakersfield line through the Central Valley. Revenue service on that line is planned for 2030, so the bridge currently stands without track or electrical systems. It runs about 50 metres from the existing BNSF Stockton Subdivision line between Fresno and Richmond.
The viaduct crosses State Route 145 and Raymond Road just east of the Madera city limits, about 20 miles northwest of the planned Fresno high-speed rail station. It runs roughly 50 metres (160 feet) parallel to the existing BNSF Railway bridge over the Fresno River, so the two structures can be compared from the roadside. The riverbed below is normally dry because the site lies downstream of the John Franchi Diversion Dam.
The river valley beneath the structure stays dry for most of the year, filling with water only during heavy rain events. This characteristic makes it an unusual example of a water crossing in a semi-arid region.
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