Long Beach International Gateway Bridge in Long Beach Harbor, opened in October 2020. Photo courtesy of Port of Long Beach.
| Bridge | City | Year Opened | Length | Height | Max. Width | Longest Span | Clearance Below |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Long Beach International Gateway Bridge | Long Beach | 2020 | 8,800 Ft. | 515 Ft. | 80 Ft. | 2,000 Ft. | 205 Ft. |
| Vincent Thomas Bridge | Los Angeles | 1963 | 6,060 Ft. | 365 Ft. | 52 Ft. | 1,500 Ft. | 185 Ft. |
1968 Gerald Desmond Bridge over Long Beach Harbor. The bridge, built in 1968, closed for demolition in 2020. Photo courtesy of Port of Long Beach.
New Long Beach International Gateway Bridge versus 1968 Gerald Desmond Bridge compared in size. The newer bridge, opened in 2020, is more than 3,600 feet longer, 265 feet taller, 13 feet wider, and provides 50 feet more clearance below than the older bridge. Image courtesy of Jacob Dickinson, via Wikimedia Commons.
At 205 feet above the water, the Long Beach International Gateway Bridge has the highest deck of any cable-stayed bridge in the United States.
Before the Vincent Thomas Bridge came to be, Terminal Island was reached by ferry from San Pedro. Boys were known to swim across the channel to the island in order to avoid paying the five-cent fare. They entrusted their clothes to one of their number who actually boarded the ferry.
The Gerald Desmond Bridge, connecting Terminal Island to Long Beach, was preceded by a pontoon bridge, opened by the Navy in 1944 as a "6-month temporary emergency structure." The pontoon bridge, meant to give the Navy easier access to its base on Terminal Island, went on to last until the opening of the Gerald Desmond Bridge in 1968.
Old Long Beach Pontoon Bridge in Long Beach Harbor, unknown date. Photo courtesy of Port of Long Beach.
The Gerald Desmond Bridge was named for a prominent Long Beach civic leader who served as a Long Beach City Councilmember and as Long Beach City Attorney.
The Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Lift Bridge, opened in 1948, was at its opening, the tallest vertical lift bridge in the Western United States. It was demolished in 2016 and replaced by newer, more earthquake-resistant bridge bearing the same name, in 2020.
Henry Ford Rail Bridge in foreground with Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Lift Bridge in Los Angeles Harbor, 1994.
Photo by Bruce Eckar for Historic American Buildings Survey, courtesy of Library of Congress.
Henry Ford Rail Bridge (foreground), remade into a lift bridge, next to the new Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge bridge (opened September 2020) that replaced the old demolished Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Lift Bridge. Photo from Caltrans, District 7.
