Henry Ford Bridge, Railway bridge in Long Beach, United States.
The Henry Ford Bridge is a railway crossing over the Cerritos Channel that links Terminal Island to the mainland using a lift mechanism to raise and lower its span. The structure allows trains to pass while giving ships the space to move through the waterway beneath.
The original structure was designed by Joseph Baermann Strauss in 1924 as an innovative solution with moveable sections for the busy Port of Los Angeles. Its design reflected engineering advances that allowed ports to handle both rail and ship traffic simultaneously.
The bridge shows how rail and ship traffic once shaped Southern California's economy and growth. Walking near it, you can sense the industrial importance that ports held for the region's development.
The bridge is accessible from roads that cross the port area, and the best way to see it is from the access roads or from the water during a port tour. You can get close views while exploring the harbor routes.
The bridge's lift mechanism was one of the first vertical-lift designs used in American port engineering and it still operates today. This engineering solution became a model for other port bridges built later on the West Coast.
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