page_title: Carquinez Bridge
section_title: Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (2003 replacement span)
hierarchical_section_title: Carquinez Bridge / History and description / Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge (2003 replacement span)
caption_attribution_description: English: Aerial view of Carquinez Strait, which is the outflow of the Sacramento River into San Pablo Bay between Solano and Contra Costa Counties, California, USA. In the photograph, Solano County is on the left of the strait and Contra Costa County is on the right. The Carquinez Bridge, carrying Interstate 80, is visible in the foreground. The Benicia-Martinez Bridge is visible in the far distance. The communities of Crocket, Port Costa, and Martinez lie on the right side in Contra Costa County. The city of Vallejo lies off to the left, not visible in the picture. Benicia, California, is visible at top left. Through Carquinez Strait and Suisun Bay, the river is navigable by deep-water vessels. Coordinates: 38°3′43.25″N 122°13′34.18″W&#xfeff; / &#xfeff;38.0620139°N 122.2261611°W
context_page_description: The Carquinez Bridge is a pair of parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait at the northeastern end of San Francisco Bay. They form the part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California.
  The name Carquinez Bridge originally referred to a single cantilever bridge built in 1927, which was part of the direct route between San Francisco and Sacramento. A second parallel cantilever bridge was completed in 1958 to deal with the increased traffic.
  Later, seismic problems made the 1927 span unsafe in case of an earthquake, and led to the construction, and 2003 opening, of a replacement: a suspension bridge officially named the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, in memory of iron worker Al Zampa, who played an integral role in the construction of numerous San Francisco Bay Area bridges. The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge carries westbound traffic from Vallejo to Crockett, and the 1958 cantilever span carries eastbound traffic.
context_section_description: At a cost of $240 million a new suspension bridge was built, to the west of the two earlier bridges, by the joint venture consisting of Flatiron Structures of Longmont, Co., FCI Constructors of Benicia, Ca., and the Cleveland Bridge & Engineering Company of Darlington, England.
  This new bridge was named the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, after an ironworker who worked on a number of the San Francisco Bay Area bridges, including the Golden Gate Bridge, and the original 1927 Carquinez span. The bridge was dedicated on November 8, 2003 and opened for traffic on November 11, 2003. Originally, the plan was to dedicate the bridge on November 15, but complications involving then just-recalled Governor Gray Davis and the transfer of power to Arnold Schwarzenegger resulted in the date being moved. The coins minted to commemorate the event have the original date on them.
  The new suspension bridge, consists of the south anchorage, a transition pier, the South and North towers, and the north anchorage. It has spans of 147 m, 728 m, and 181 m. for a total span of 0.66 miles (1,060 m). It features a pedestrian and bicycle path, part of a bike trail which it is hoped will eventually circle the entire Bay Area. The towers are each founded on two footings, which are each supported by six vertical, 3-metre-diameter (9.8 ft) steel shells infilled with reinforced concrete, followed by 2.7-metre-diameter (8.9 ft) drilled shafts in rock, i.e., cast-in-drilled hole, or CIDH, piles. The total length of the CIDH pile at the South Tower is approximately 89 m, with about 43 m of drilled shaft in rock. The total length of the CIDH pile at the North Tower ranges from 49 to 64 m, with about 16 to 26 m of drilled shaft in rock. The design parameters used for the South Tower piles were later confirmed by a pile load test. Additional field investigations during construction revealed significant variations in rock conditions at the North Tower, resulting in the redesign of the length of the piles. Major construction challenges encountered during construction of the South Tower piles, and the revised construction procedure, i.e., under-reaming, used by the constructor to mitigate caving.
  Materials for the New Bridge came from all over the world:
  Steel Caissons for CIDH: XKT Engineering – Vallejo, California
  Orthotropic Deck Sections: IHI – Japan
  Tower and Splay Saddles:
  Castings: Sheffield Steel – England
  Finishing and Machining: Kvaerner – England
  Main Cable Wire: Bridon – England
  Wire for Cable Wrapping: Canada
  Cable Bands: France
  Suspenders (Hardware, Casting, Fabrication): WRCA – St. Joseph, Missouri
  (3) Maintenance Travelers Under Deck Sections: Jesse Engineering – Tacoma, Washington
caption: Aerial view of Carquinez Strait and bridges, prior to construction of the new suspension bridge
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