Confusion Hill Bridges, Road bridge in Mendocino County, California, United States.
Confusion Hill Bridges are two parallel structures that cross the South Fork Eel River, soaring 78 meters (255 feet) above the water. The southern bridge spans roughly 380 meters while the northern bridge is considerably shorter.
The Confusion Hill realignment bypasses the Confusion Hill slide, a stretch of unstable hillside about 1,000 feet long and 3,000 feet wide that shifted during heavy rains and damaged the roadway. Caltrans designed the two spans; MCM Construction Inc. and the Finley Engineering Group built them, starting the north bridge on July 26, 2006. The project cost an estimated $67 million and opened to traffic in October 2009.
The two spans are named after pioneers Elizabeth Jane Rosewarne and Mignon Stoddard Lilley, while the pair as a whole takes its name from the nearby roadside attraction Confusion Hill. Drivers crossing on U.S. Route 101 pass the spot about 8 miles north of Leggett.
The realignment lies about 8 miles (13 km) north of Leggett, where U.S. Route 101 crosses the South Fork Eel River on two spans at a bend in the river. The roadway follows the bank opposite the old slide-prone route, so drivers pass over both bridges in sequence. There is no pedestrian access; the crossing is for through traffic only.
The south bridge is a cast-in-place segmental concrete box girder built by the balanced cantilever method from its two interior piers. Its superstructure depth runs from 9.6 metres at piers 2 and 3 to 3.5 metres at the ends and mid-span, giving the spans a slight arch.
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