Colorado Street Bridge (Pasadena)

Colorado Street Bridge is an arched type . It consists of 11 arches made of reinforced concrete . The bridge is 447 m long and 12 m wide, including two pedestrian walkways of 1.5 m each ^[1] . The maximum height of the bridge is 45 m. The bridge is not straight, but has a curved structure. The bridge supports are connected by arched vaults that support its spans ^[2] .

General information

The Colorado Street Bridge was built in 1912-1913 according to the project of engineer Joseph Alexander Low Waddell from Kansas City ( Missouri ). The construction of the bridge, led by John Drake Mercereau , took 18 months ^[1] , and the bridge was opened for traffic on December 13, 1913 ^[3] . It was argued that at the time the construction was completed, the Colorado Street Bridge, with a maximum height of 45 meters, was the highest concrete bridge in the world ^[2] .

Until 1940, when the wider Arroyo Seco Parkway Bridge was built nearby, the Colorado Street Bridge was part of the famous US Route 66 Highway ^[2] .

In the early 1960s, the bridge began to come into disrepair - it partially collapsed, pieces of concrete began to fall off from it. After the 1989 earthquake, the bridge was closed due to seismic hazard. In the next four years, reconstruction was carried out, which cost $ 27 million. The repaired bridge was reopened in 1993 ^[4] .

On February 12, 1981, Colorado Street Bridge was listed on the US National Register of Historic Places at 81000156 ^[5] .

Suicide Bridge

Throughout its history, the Colorado Street Bridge has earned a reputation as the “ Suicide Bridge ” - a phrase that is even used as its unofficial name. The first documented suicide occurred on November 16, 1919 ^{[6] [7]} . True, there is a legend that even during the construction of the bridge one of the workers fell into the tank with liquid cement, they did not pull him out in time, and he froze there, as a result of which the bridge became damned for long times ^[6] .

In 1921, the Colorado Street Bridge featured in Charlie Chaplin ’s film “ The Kid ”. One of the episodes of the film shows a young woman standing at the railing of this bridge with thoughts of suicide, from which she is distracted by a small child who has moved away from the nanny sitting next to her.

In fact, one of the most famous cases occurred on May 1, 1937, when a desperate 22-year-old mother threw her three-year-old daughter off the bridge, and then jumped herself. Mother crashed to death, and her daughter escaped because her fall was slowed by tree branches. In 1993, more than 55 years after this tragedy, the daughter attended the opening ceremony of the renovated bridge ^[4] .

In 2010, more than 150 people settled their lives on this bridge, and a significant number of suicides occurred during the years of the Great Depression . According to official estimates, in the early 1930s, 79 people crashed by jumping from this bridge ^[4] .

In recent years, the number of suicides has decreased significantly due to the precautions taken. Over the ornate concrete railing of the bridge, metal grids were installed, the height of which (together with the railing) is about 2.4 m ^[4] . In August 2013, in the year of the centenary of the bridge, it is planned to install special signs with inscriptions for psychological support ^[7] .