Rocky Creek Bridge | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Coordinates | 36°22′46″N 121°54′08″W / 36.37944°N 121.90222°W |
| Carries |  SR 1 |
| Crosses | Rocky Creek |
| Locale | Big Sur Monterey County |
| Maintained by | Caltrans |
| Characteristics | |
| Design | open-spandrel deck arch bridge |
| Material | Reinforced concrete |
| Total length | 497.1 feet (151.5 m) |
| Longest span | 239 feet (73 m) |
| History | |
| Construction end | 1932 |
| Location | |
Rocky Creek Bridge[1] is a reinforced concrete open-spandrel arch bridge on the Big Sur coast of California, built in 1927, its official name is Ben Jones,[2] referred to as Rocky Creek Bridge features a reinforced-concrete, open-spandrel, fixed, parabolic-arch, a decorative cantilevered walkway, and reinforced-concrete railings in an arched-window design. It is located in Monterey County, on the State Route 1 (Cabrillo Highway) about 12 miles (19 km) south of the city of Carmel, and about a mile north of the more famous Bixby Creek Bridge. Rocky Creek Bridge is one of seven similar bridges along State Route 1 known as the Big Sur Arches, it is individually eligible for the National Register of Historic Places under Criterion A for providing important crossings for the Carmel-San Simeon Highway, originally State Route 56 (now State Route 1), and under Criterion C as an outstanding example of modern concrete arch construction with heavily inflected piers, and thin arch rings and spandrels As its name implies, it spans Rocky Creek. A turnout with limited parking space exists to the northwest of the bridge, for tourist use.
The vicinity ecology is noteworthy in that the marine waters at the mouth of Rocky Creek are a habitat for the endangered southern sea otter, E. l. nereis. Additionally, on a ridge above Rocky Creek is one of the few known habitats of Yadon's piperia, a North American rare and endangered species of orchid.
References
- ↑ Tomlinson, Jessica (2021-09-07). "The Historic Ben Jones Bridge, Also Known as Rocky Creek Bridge". That Oregon Life. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
- ↑ "Otter Crest Loop and Ben Jones Bridge / Rocky Creek Bridge - Virtual Tour of Depoe Bay, Gleneden Beach, Otter Rock, Oregon Coast". www.beachconnection.net. Retrieved 2023-01-13.
