Long Beach's New Bridge Opens To Traffic
LONG BEACH (CBSLA) — California's newest bridge, which will replace the Gerald Desmond Bridge, opened Monday to traffic.
The new bridge has two towers rising 205 feet above the water, 50 feet higher than the old bridge, to accommodate mega vessels, and wider than the Gerald Desmond Bridge, which will eventually be demolished. The bridge is now the country's second-tallest cable-stayed bridge, and each of the 80 cables light up the night sky.
The $1.47 billion bridge replacement project began in 2013. EarthCam released a time lapse video on Twitter that showed the painstaking process of building the new bridge alongside the Gerald Desmond Bridge.
A ribbon-cutting ceremony Friday included a military flyover and a boat parade.
The bridge will connect the shipping yards on Terminal Island to the 710 Freeway and the rest of the nation. The old Gerald Desmond Bridge carried 15% of all container goods coming into the U.S.
