The Truckee Valley Bridge provides a bypass of the historic town of Truckee for travelers going south from Interstate 80 to the resort areas in the Sierras (Figure 6-29). The bridge carries the two lanes of California Route 267 over the valley of the Truckee River. The surrounding area is ponderosa pine forest typical of the high Sierras, with multiple rock outcrops and little vegetative understory. The predominant colors are the dark green of the pine foliage and multiple browns of the pine trunks, ground cover and rock. Truckee attracts a lot of tourists to its historic area. The bridge can be seen by travelers on I-80, from the historic center of Truckee, and by kayakers, hikers, and fishermen in the valley. The boundaries of the bridge are set by the pine forest. The design intention/vision for the bridge was to make a bridge which simply and gracefully crossed the valley without drawing attention to itself and with minimal interference to views up and down the valley.

The geometry for the bridge was set by the alignment of California 267 and did not offer any particular problems or opportunities. A post-tensioned concrete box girder was chosen as the structural type because it offered long spans with relatively thin and simple piers. The piers were placed to provide an odd number of spans and to avoid the deepest part of the valley. The bridge is 465 meters long and13.07 meters wide carrying two 3.6m lanes with two 2.4m shoulders. There are no sidewalks. The bridge has seven spans. The end spans are 53 meters, and the remaining spans are 71 meters. Superstructure depth varies from 2300mm at midspan to 4570mm at the piers. The superstructure box girder has three webs. The outer webs are sloped at 1 horizontal to 3 vertical. The clear span at the top of the box is 3180mm. The overhangs are conventionally reinforced concrete and have a clear span of 2900mm. The bridge 29m above the valley floor at its highest point.

The abutments are small and placed at the point where the highway profile met the existing grade. A haunched girder was chosen to minimize the thickness of the girder while permitting long spans, and to allow the bridge to respond to the flow of forces.

The piers are shaped to blend seamlessly into the haunched girders (Figure 6-30). The abutments have little impact on the appearance of the bridge and were kept small and simple. The concrete of the ridge was left uncoated. However, the natural color of the local concrete has an affinity for the surroundings and the local sunlight. The bridge seems to take on a rose beige color that blends in well with the background. With that in mind and with the goal of making the structure blend in to the site, no further texture or ornamentation was needed and none was added. There are no inset pine trees in the piers or gold rush pioneers on the parapet. There is no signing or lighting on the bridge and the only landscaping is provided by the pine forest. The bridge cost $8.2 million in 2000. The structural type is standard in California, and the owner believes that no significant premium paid to achieve the aesthetic quality. Local elected officials and residents are proud of its appearance and the way it fits its surroundings. Even many of those who originally opposed the project are happy with the result.

True to the ideals of structural art the bridge achieves its aesthetic impact through the careful shaping of the structural members themselves to both efficiently carry the forces on them and create an attractive ensemble. It is a masterpiece of the bridge builder's art.

The bridge was deigned by the Bridge Division of the California Department of Transportation. Kelly Holden was the project designer; David Catania was the owner's representative during construction.