After many years of planning, disputes, and construction, today finally marks the opening of the new Gerald Desmond Bridge in Long Beach. It is California’s first and only major cable-stayed span, and it’s intended to be a “postcard bridge” for Long Beach. It runs parallel to the ugly old Gerald Desmond Bridge, which is now scheduled for a well-deserved demolition.
Naturally I took pictures. Unfortunately, the harbor is so crammed with harbor stuff that it’s surprisingly difficult to get a decent view of the bridge. For a good “postcard” view you need a boat, or, even better, a blimp. I have neither, so I was stuck with ground-level views. That said, here’s a collection of photos taken from various spots.
First up, the whole bridge rising out of the early morning fog. This was taken from northwest of the bridge:
This is probably the best overall view of the bridge, taken from the southeast:
This one was taken from the deck of the old bridge.
Here’s another one that clearly shows the old and new bridges together. The new one, in addition to being bigger and able to handle more traffic, is also higher than the old bridge. This allows bigger ships to dock in the inner harbor.
Here’s a more panoramic view from across the middle harbor:
And finally, we started with the morning fog so let’s end with it too. This is a black-and-white photo of the bridge in the early morning surrounded by harbor stuff. It provides a good context for what the bridge looks like in most actual views.
POSTSCRIPT: If you’re curious what the last image looks like in color on a sunny afternoon, here it is:
