Generals' Highway Stone Bridges
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=August 2023}}
{{Infobox NRHP
| name = Generals' Highway Stone Bridges
| nrhp_type = hd
| nocat = yes
| image = Generals Highway, Clover Creek Bridge, Spanning Clover Creek on Generals Highway, approxi, Three Rivers vicinity (Tulare County, California).jpg
| caption = General's Highway Stone Bridge
| nearest_city = Mineral King, California
| coordinates = {{coord|36|36|27|N|118|44|46|W|display=inline,title}}
| locmapin = California#USA
| area =
| built = 1930
| architect = Multiple; National Park Service
| architecture = National Park Service Rustic
| added = September 13, 1978{{NRISref|2008a}}
| refnum = 78000284
}}
The Generals' Highway Stone Bridges, built in 1930, are part of the Generals' Highway from the General Grant Grove of giant sequoias in Kings Canyon National Park (then called General Grant National Park) through Sequoia National Park. One bridge spans the Marble Fork of the Kaweah River in a wooded setting, while the other, similar bridge spans Clover Creek in a bare canyon.
Design
The bridges are typically reinforced concrete barrel arches with uncoursed stone facing on the sides, in a National Park Service Rustic style. The concrete is not visible to passersby, whose attention is taken by the mass of the masonry. Of the two, the Clover Creek bridge is the more impressive, due to its setting. The bridges were designed by the National Park Service Branch of Plans and Designs in cooperation with the Bureau of Public Roads.{{cite web|url=http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=CA&PARK=SEKI&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=118|date=2008-12-09|work=List of Classified Structures|title=Marble Fork Bridge|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=2008-12-09|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110521211435/http://www.hscl.cr.nps.gov/insidenps/report.asp?STATE=CA&PARK=SEKI&STRUCTURE=&SORT=&RECORDNO=118|archive-date=2011-05-21|url-status=dead}}{{Cite journal|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory-Nomination: Generals' Highway Stone Bridges|url={{NRHP url|id=78000284}} |format=pdf|date=March 28, 1977 |author=William Tweed |publisher=National Park Service}}
The design inspiration for the bridges was the Westchester County, New York parkway system, which included the Bronx River and Hutchinson River parkways. The National Park Service sent two designers to observe the construction, and one of these, John Wosky, was the designer of the Generals' Highway bridges. Wosky developed the architectural design of the Marble Fork bridge in the fall of 1928, and structural plans were developed by the Bureau of Public Roads in January 1929. The Clover Creek bridge was designed in 1930, with construction the same year on both bridges. The contractor for both bridges was W. A. Bechtel.
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See also
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
{{Commons category-inline}}
- Historic American Engineering Record (HAER) documentation, filed under Three Rivers, Tulare County, CA:
- {{HAER |survey=CA-140-A |id=ca1792 |title=Generals Highway, Lodgepole Bridge, Spanning Marble Fork of Kaweah River, approximately 21 miles northwest of Ash Mountain Entrance |photos=7 |data=6 |cap=1 |link=no}}
- {{HAER |survey=CA-140-B |id=ca1793 |title=Generals Highway, Clover Creek Bridge, Spanning Clover Creek, approximately 22 miles northeast of Ash Mountain Entrance |photos=5 |color=1 |data=7 |cap=2 |link=no}}
{{NRHP in Sequoia-Kings Canyon National Parks}}
{{National Register of Historic Places}}
{{Sequoia National Park}}
Category:National Register of Historic Places in Sequoia National Park
Category:Rustic architecture in California
Category:Bridges completed in 1930
Category:Road bridges on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Category:Transportation buildings and structures in Tulare County, California
Category:History of the San Joaquin Valley
Category:Stone arch bridges in the United States
Category:Historic American Engineering Record in California
Category:Historic districts on the National Register of Historic Places in California
Category:1930 establishments in California
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