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Documenting North America's past & present covered bridges

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Bridgeport, Nevada County

If you find errors in the data please contact Bill Caswell.

If you would like to provide information on covered bridges that no longer exist from your state, or adopt a state to work on, we would certainly welcome your assistance. Please contact Trish Kane for more information.

Inventory Number: CA/05-29-01
County: Nevada County
Township: Penn Valley
Town/Village:
Bridge Name: Bridgeport
Crosses: South Fork Yuba River
Truss type: Howe & Arch
Spans: 1
Length: 226'-4" roofline, 210' span
Roadway Width: 18'
Built: 1862
Builder: J.W. Woods
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N39 17.570
Longitude: W121 11.696
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 7.6 miles northwest of jct CA49 on CA20, then 7.7 miles right on Pleasant Valley Rd. and left into the parking lot of South Yuba State Park.

Bridgeport Bridge, Bridgeport, Nevada County, CA Built 1862
Bill Caswell Photo, August 31, 2017

Bridgeport Bridge, Bridgeport, Nevada County, CA Built 1862
Richard Sanders Allen Collection, NSPCB Archives

Bridgeport Bridge, Bridgeport, Nevada County, CA Built 1862
Jenn Caswell Photo, August 31, 2017

Bridgeport Bridge, Bridgeport, Nevada County, CA Built 1862
Todd Clark Collection

Comments:
Closed to motor vehicles. The bridge was constructed in 1862 to serve miners travelling from San Francisco and the Central Valley to gold mines in Nevada County, California. It replaced a bridge washed out by heavy rain. The Douglas fir structure was built by J.W. Woods, owner of a sawmill in the mountains. The siding of the 24-panel truss was constructed to accentuate the bridge's arch. The bridge remained in private ownership until 1901 when Nevada County assumed ownership and declared it a free and public highway. In 1918, when the state authorized the construction of the new state highway system, including Highway 49, use of the Bridge as a transportation corridor diminished; though it remained open as part of a local road. Nevada County constructed a new concrete bridge to bypass the covered bridge which was closed to traffic in 1972. Promotional materials often refer to it as the longest single span covered bridge in the world. After the loss of New York’s Blenheim Bridge in August 2011, it became the longest single span covered bridge in the US. The Blenheim Bridge has since been rebuilt so this may no longer be the case. In 2011, the bridge was completely closed after an inspection revealed that due to decay and failure of some structural members, the bridge was unstable and required immediate stabilization to prevent imminent collapse. A suspension system supported by steel I-beam structures at each end was added. The bridge underwent extensive restoration beginning in late 2018 until the fall of 2021. During that process, the temporary suspension system was removed. A ribbon-cutting ceremony celebrating the restoration and re-opening to pedestrian traffic was held on November 4, 2021.

Sources:
Morley, Griswold. The Covered Bridges of California, 1938, pages 50-51 & 91
Adams, Kramer. Covered Bridges of the West: A History and Illustrated Guide, 1963, pages 131, 135 & 138
List of Known Covered Bridges in California as of June 1938, State of California, Bridge Department
National Society for the Preservation of Covered Bridges. World Guide to Covered Bridges, 2021, page 3