Posted in Northern California
December 01, 2016
The Magnificent Bridge In Northern California That Needs To Be Seen At Least Once
The Rainbow Bridge on Old Highway 40 above Donner Lake and Truckee is an iconic vision in the Sierra Nevada. It was built in the 1920s and is also known as the Donner Memorial Bridge. It’s surrounded by granite boulders and windswept trees, making it a photographer’s dream location in any season.
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Rainbow Bridge was a common design for the 1920s. Other bridges with similar designs were constructed at Yuba Gap, Big Sur, Redding, and Folsom. Rainbow was unique because of its placement: it was on a grade, and had a compound curve that had never been attempted before. The final 1925 construction report says, “The alignment consists of a series of compound curves; there being a 360 foot radius curve over the arch and a 145 ft radius over each approach span.”







We’re lucky to live in Northern California where we are surrounded by such incredible nature and history. Have you visited this beautiful and historic bridge in the Sierra?