The Sundial Bridge

This is a design classic that I’ve dug out of my archives. On a road trip heading north in California, we took an intentional detour to see Santiago Calatrava’s Sundial Bridge in Turtle Bay, Redding.

The bridge did not disappoint. A majestic single cantilever holding up a translucent deck that glows blue at night. It also doubled up as a clock, using the sun to tell time by casting shadows onto numbers in the park at one end of the bridge. The bridge spanned 700 feet and did not touch the water at any point.

Interesting story about this bridge, it was constructed at nearly ten times the intended budget. Long battles were fought at city hall against this blatant waste of public funds. However when it was finished it became directly responsible for a 42% increase in visitors to Redding.

Funny how a pedestrian foot bridge can put a whole city on the map!