At 730 feet above the water this is the tallest bridge in the state of California. At it's opening in 1973 it was the second highest bridge in the world.
The bridge can be seen in the beginning of the 2002 film " XXX" in which Vin Diesel's character, Xander Cage is seen driving a stolen red Chevrolet Corvette off of it, then jumping from the car mid-flight and parachuting to his accomplices at the bottom of the American River Canyon. Illegal base jumping has been an ongoing problem since the bridge opened.
The extraordinary height was not intentional. For years, a dam was planned across the Auburn Ravine and the bridge was supposed to be about 50 foot above the level of the new lake. All the canyon that you see, was going to be under 600 feet of water. The bridge was built, the tunnel through solid rock, to divert the river during construction was complete, and dam construction was set to begin when a seismic study discovered a fault along the canyon. It was determined that the weight of the water could add to the chances of movement along the fault, resulting in an earthquake as high as 7.0, that could damage the dam and result in flooding downstream, including putting stress on Folsom Dam which could lead to flooding along the entire Sacramento River. The dam plan was cancelled, leaving the high bridge.
This bridge is similar in construction to the Minneapolis bridge that collapsed in 2007 killing 19 people. Fearing problems with this bridge a seismic retrofit project was started in 2011, taking 4 years to complete and costing 5 times the cost of the original construction.
There is a small parking lot on the eastern side of the bridge, and a pedestrian walkway across it. Please post a picture of the bridge, preferably with you standing on it. As you view the bridge note the "Messages of Hope" and the Hotline phone, put up to discourage suicides. So far, as of 2022, there have been 93 suicides from the bridge. Some groups continue to support construction of the dam, which they state would provide important water regulation and flood protection. "BUILD IT, DAM IT!" graffiti can still be found around Auburn and on bumper stickers.
The land that would have been under water is now part of the Auburn State Recreation Area and is very popular for biking, hiking, horseback riding, boating, kayaking, swimming , rock climbing and gold prospecting. Parts of The Western States Trail Ride (Tevis Cup) and the Western States 100 Mile Endurance Run go through this canyon.
The background tile on this page is an image of my Pathtag honoring the Bridge, which I leave in Geocacches in the area.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Auburn_Dam,
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Foresthill_Bridge
Virtual Reward - 2017/2018
This Virtual Cache is part of a limited release of Virtuals created between August 24, 2017 and August 24, 2018. Only 4,000 cache owners were given the opportunity to hide a Virtual Cache. Learn more about Virtual Rewards on the Geocaching Blog.