Film footage of the construction of the Foresthill Bridge, no sound. This is one of ten 16mm film reels that were created by Ray Hattrup and his son Marvin Hattrup between 1969-1973. These reels document the step-by-step construction of the Foresthill Bridge in Placer County. The Hattrups would later create a documentary film abut he bridge titled: “The Bridge in the Sky.”
The Foresthill Bridge in Placer County is the tallest bridge in California, standing 730 feet above the North Fork of the American River. It is a steel deck truss bridge and at the time of its construction, which began in 1969, it was the second tallest bridge that the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation had ever built. Construction was completed in 1972 and the bridge was formally dedicated on September 1, 1973.
The bridge was never intended to be California’s tallest bridge. It was originally built at its massive height for a planned reservoir that would have been formed by the Auburn Dam. However, due to seismic, economic, and environmental concerns the dam was never completed, and the bridge remains as a monument to the end of California’s dam building era of the 1970s.
Item or Container Annotations
Taped label on reel: "Master Cut Reel" Note on reel: "starts with trailer."
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