Tobin Bridges, transportation infrastructure in California
The Tobin Bridges are two crossing structures that span the North Fork of the Feather River in California. The railway bridge was built in 1910 with a camelback Pratt truss design measuring about 234 feet (71 meters), while the 1936 road bridge has a single span of approximately 290 feet (88 meters) designed to carry vehicles across the same river.
The railway bridge was built in 1910 by the Western Pacific Railroad as part of a transcontinental route through the Sierra Nevada, maintaining a gentle 1 percent grade to ease train passage. The road bridge followed in 1936 as State Route 70 was developed through the Feather River Gorge.
The Tobin Bridges represent how remote mountain areas were connected to the wider world through rail and road infrastructure. Both structures remain visible reminders of how communities relied on these crossings to enable commerce and movement through challenging terrain.
The bridges sit in a tight canyon with steep rock walls and dense forest cover, so the setting is defined by the river and rugged topography. Visitors should know that the road bridge has narrow travel lanes without shoulders and handles about a thousand vehicles daily.
The railway bridge is part of a transcontinental route with the gentlest grade of any mountain crossing from its era and is recognized as one of the 7 Wonders of the Railroad World in Plumas County. This special engineering feat allowed trains to traverse the mountains more efficiently.
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