Frequently Asked Questions

Caltrans proposes to replace the existing Albion River Bridge. The project aims to build a new bridge across the Albion River that meets modern seismic safety standards, provides safe and reliable multimodal access, and minimizes ongoing maintenance costs. The project considers build alternatives that would replace the bridge east of the existing bridge alignment, west of the existing bridge alignment, and approximately along the same alignment of the existing bridge. These alternatives include arch and non-arch design options.

The purpose of the proposed project is to provide a bridge across the Albion River that meets modern seismic safety standards, provides safe and reliable multimodal access, and minimizes ongoing maintenance costs. The proposed project’s objectives are as follows:

• Eliminate the bridge’s structural and seismic deficiencies
• Eliminate the truss main span’s fracture critical condition
• Provide shoulder widths consistent with local coastal plan requirements
• Provide improved road alignment and sight distance
• Provide safe, multimodal bridge access
• Minimize ongoing maintenance costs
• Minimize traffic delays associated with bridge inspection, maintenance, and repairs
• Improve resilience to sea level rise, storm surges, and tsunamis
• Prevent further preservative treatment leaching from existing bridge timbers
• Minimize construction-related impacts to the community and environment

The proposed project is needed to address the following functional, safety, and structural deficiencies:

• The bridge does not meet modern seismic standards, which indicates a higher probability of damage and closure from a seismic event.
• The bridge is fracture critical due to the riveted steel deck truss main span’s lack of redundancy. If key structural connections or components are compromised, the bridge could fail during a seismic event or under heavy cyclical loads.
• The bridge is functionally obsolete and does not meet minimum design standards due to the narrow deck geometry, including 1-foot-wide shoulders.
• SR 1 across the Albion River legislatively designated part of the Pacific Coast Bike Route (PCBR) and a California Coastal Trail (CCT). The bridge lacks continuous, safe, and separate access for bicyclists and pedestrians, including PCBR and CCT users.
• The bridge has an external wooden barrier rail incapable of resisting current vehicle impact loading requirements.
• The bridge was designed to carry lighter trucks (e.g., 15-ton trucks). Heavy loads can add strain and advance the structural weakening of the bridge. Due to continued deterioration, the bridge’s load rating would be reduced over time.
• The bridge is the sole crossing over the Albion River along SR 1 and is an important route for tourism and intraregional travel along the Mendocino Coast. If a full bridge closure is necessary for inspection, maintenance, repairs, or safety reasons, traffic must be detoured around the closure. A detour using state routes would be approximately 126 miles.
• Due to the many closely spaced bridge supports within the tsunami inundation zone, the bridge is susceptible to tsunami damage, including debris loading or possible collapse.
• The bridge requires ongoing preventative maintenance. Caltrans anticipates a continuous program to paint the steel deck truss approximately every 5 years and to replace timber fasteners, the bolted connections, and hardware throughout the entire timber substructure approximately every 2 years.
• The bridge’s preservative-treated timbers are in a state of ongoing deterioration, which presents a risk of contaminant leaching into the environment.