Dumbarton Rail Bridge

The Dumbarton Rail Bridge lies just to the south of the Dumbarton road bridge. Built in 1910, the rail bridge was the first structure to span San Francisco Bay, shortening the rail route between Oakland and San Francisco by 26 miles (42 km). The last freight train traveled over the bridge in 1982, and it has been proposed since 1991 to reactivate passenger train service (connecting Caltrain on the Peninsula with ACE, BART and the Capitol Corridor in the East Bay) to relieve traffic on the road bridges, though this would entail a complete replacement of the existing bridge. Part of the western timber trestle approach collapsed in a suspected arson fire in 1998.

Dumbarton Rail Bridge
The bridge in 2021.
Coordinates37.493137°N 122.116478°W / 37.493137; -122.116478
Carriessingle-track railway
CrossesSan Francisco Bay (Newark Slough)
Other name(s)Dumbarton Point Bridge
Dumbarton Bridge
Named forDumbarton Point
OwnerSamTrans
Characteristics
DesignPratt through truss with central swing Pennsylvania (Petit) through truss span, timber trestle approaches on east and west
Total length8,058 feet (2,456 m)
  (including approaches & Newark Slough Bridge)
1,390 feet (420 m)
  (steel structure)
Traversable?No
Longest span310 feet (94 m)
No. of spans7, excluding approaches
History
DesignerWilliam Hood
Constructed bySouthern Pacific
Construction startc.1907
Construction endJune 1910
Construction costUS$3,500,000 (equivalent to $109,900,000 in 2022)
InauguratedSeptember 12, 1910 (1910-09-12)
Collapsed1998
Closed1982
Location
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