Skip to main content

New Californian bridge

Plans are in hand for a new bridge to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach in California. The existing structure is not able to cope with anticipated increases in vehicle traffic volumes and is also too low for new generation of cargo ships to pass underneath.
February 7, 2012 Read time: 1 min
An artist's impression of the proposed replacement Gerald Desmond bridge
Plans are in hand for a new bridge to replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge at the Port of Long Beach in California. The existing structure is not able to cope with anticipated increases in vehicle traffic volumes and is also too low for new generation of cargo ships to pass underneath. Building a new bridge is expected to cost US$1.1 billion and the project would require a five year construction period. The new bridge would be higher to allow larger vessels to pass underneath as well as wider, with three lanes of traffic in either direction as well as emergency hard shoulder lanes. A revised environmental impact report has now been released for the project.

Related Content

  • The need to repair and replace the world's bridges
    February 22, 2012
    The future of Scotland's Forth Road Bridge is posing serious questions with a wide potential impact for the transportation sector. All over the world existing highway bridges are in need of repair and replacement, with potentially catastrophic consequences should this need be ignored.
  • Almost gone: Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge deconstructed
    August 14, 2015
    Three years ago a welder’s cut halved Canada’s old Port Mann Bridge. David Arminas reports from the banks of the Fraser River. By the time this issue of World Highways reaches you, one of Canada’s iconic steel arch bridges will be a shadow of its former self. It’s been a three-year demolition job since the first cut across the deck of the old Port Mann Bridge just outside the city of Vancouver on Canada’s Pacific coast. A new 10-lane 2.2km Port Mann Bridge opened in 2012 (see box). It runs parallel to the o
  • Port bridge upgrade for New York
    March 6, 2012
    Plans are in hand to upgrade the Bayonne Bridge in the USA. The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey intends to raise the central span of the bridge from its current height of 46-65.5m. The port authority has approved a US$1 billion grant for the project. The work is needed to allow larger vessels to pass under the bridge by 2014. Other options have included building a new bridge or constructing a road tunnel but the upgrades to the Bayonne Bridge have been regarded as the most cost effective.
  • New Midtown Tunnel open in Virginia
    January 30, 2017
    A project to construct the second Midtown Tunnel link in the US state of Virginia alongside the original connection has taken an important step forward – Mike Woof writes Commuters in the US state of Virginia will be pleased that the new Midtown Tunnel is now open to traffic, as it will help to boost capacity and cut congestion on the busy US 58 route connecting Norfolk and Portsmouth. The 1.13km tunnel link has been built to link with the interchange at Brambleton Avenue and Hampton Boulevard in Norfolk