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Berta's Ranch, Humboldt 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/05-12-02
County: Humboldt County
Township: Eureka
Town/Village: Rosewood
Bridge Name: Berta's Ranch
Crosses: Elk River
Truss type: Queen
Spans: 1
Length: 52'
Roadway Width: 12'
Built: 1936
Builder:
When Lost: standing
Cause:
Latitude: N40 43.473
Longitude: W124 10.619
See a map of the area
Topographic map of the area
Directions: 0.1 miles east of US101 exit 702 on Herrick Ave., then 1.6 miles right on Elk River Rd., bear right (still Elk River Rd.) 0.9 miles and 0.2 miles right on Berta Rd. South of Eureka.

Berta's Ranch Bridge, Rosewood, Humboldt County, CA Built 1936
Richard Donovan Collection

Berta's Ranch Bridge, Rosewood, Humboldt County, CA Built 1936
Bill Caswell Photo, August 29, 2017

Berta's Ranch Bridge, Rosewood, Humboldt County, CA Built 1936
Traugott Keller Photo, 1964, NSPCB Archives

Berta's Ranch Bridge, Rosewood, Humboldt County, CA Built 1936
L. Gates Photo, 1962, NSPCB Archives

Comments:
T4N R1W S22. This bridge includes 30' wooden approach ramps. Berta's Ranch Covered Bridge was built in 1936 over the Elk River. It is the most westerly covered bridge in the United States. The Zane's Ranch Bridge, built a quarter-mile up-river in 1937, is nearly identical. Both bridges are 52-feet long and built of native Redwood which was inexpensive and plentiful at the time. The 1938 list from the State Bridge Department lists the span as 50'.

Sources:
Morley, Griswold. The Covered Bridges of California, 1938, pages 26-27 & 91
Adams, Kramer. Covered Bridges of the West: A History and Illustrated Guide, 1963, pages 131 & 132
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

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If the intended use is beyond these purposes, it is the responsibility of the user to obtain the appropriate permissions from the owner stated in the image's credits.