COME CELEBRATE THIS CIVIL ENGINEERING LANDMARK

Join Pasadena Heritage on Saturday, July 15, 2006 for the best party in town! The Celebration on the Colorado Street Bridge is a celebration of historic preservation on one of the world’s most beautiful bridges with continuous live music, dancing, antique cars, children’s activities, no-host festive foods and beverages on the Colorado Street Bridge in Pasadena.

Pasadena’s Colorado Street Bridge was dedicated on December 13, 1913, with over 3,000 residents in attendance. It was a marvel to behold, with its majestic light standards and graceful arches across the Arroyo Seco, a natural gorge 150 feet below.

Engineer John Alexander Lowe Waddell of Kansas City designed the bridge to connect Pasadena to Los Angeles, thus avoiding the treacherous descent into the Arroyo and ascent up the other side. The river flowing beneath the bridge made construction a most difficult task. Contractor John Drake Mercereau was credited with the bridge’s final design. He suggested curving it across the Arroyo to take advantage of the firmest footing for the eleven great arches. This revolutionary concept met with considerable skepticism but resulted in one of the most beautiful bridges in the world.

When completed, the Colorado Street Bridge was not only the first curvilinear bridge ever designed but also the tallest concrete bridge of its day. It is now a Civil Engineering Landmark and listed on the National Register of Historic Places.