Caltrans celebrated the 100th birthday of the Isleton Bridge on State Route 160, which crosses the Sacramento River near Isleton, about four miles northeast of Rio Vista in the Delta.
On Oct. 27, 1923, the Isleton Chamber of Commerce held a dedication ceremony to open the 624-foot, two-lane bridge serving the surrounding communities.
"For 100 years, the Isleton Bridge has been the little bridge that could, reliably serving the small family cars as well as the enormous semi-trucks taking agricultural products to market," said Leah Budu, Caltrans District 4’s deputy district director of maintenance, at a ceremony last month.
The Isleton Bridge is a double-leafed draw bridge with steel roadway sections that draw up and away from each other to allow ships to pass. This bridge type may also be referred to as bascule, from the French balance scale, because the bridge uses counterweights to aid in the opening and closing of the moveable sections.
"The bridge serves marine traffic,” said Moe Azar, Caltrans District 3’s deputy district director of maintenance. “On the river below, you can see small craft glide quietly below the span, but the bridge can also allow passage of surprisingly large ships by opening the spans."
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