# Highway 1 Bridge fails cutting off Big Sur **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [March 12, 2017, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999 "2017-03-12T14:47:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 10\ **Page:** 4
**Author:** ![wguy123](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/wguy123/32/3161_2.png) [@wguy123](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wguy123)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 3:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/61 "2017-05-25T15:29:49Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > _uneasy_ Are there many places where a massive potential landslide hangs over a route ? If you look at the sat view on Google maps of that location (search mud creek monterey country and you’ll find it quickly), you can see what it looked like before the slide. It had obviously slid before. Now, move around along that highway and see if you can notice that “look” anywhere else. I would say there are many, many more places where this can and will happen. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/62 "2017-05-25T16:01:37Z")
> [@Evan\_Drake](#): > > _uneasy_ Are there many places where a massive potential landslide hangs over a route ? Yes – many! Much of Highway 1 along Northern California’s Pacific coastline is prone to slides. One recent bypass was completed a couple of years ago: the **Devil’s Slide Bypass Tunnels**. Here is a map: [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/GS2eiW). On that map, the tunnel’s entrances connect to the old stretch of Hwy 1 that follows the coast to the west. Winter landslides were common for many years and closed the highway. That Devil’s Slide Bypass project had been discussed off and on for at least 40+ years around these parts before those tunnels were completed in 2013. > [@wguy123](#): > > (search mud creek monterey country and you’ll find it quickly) That didn’t find it for me but here is a map link that should work: [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/kkV3uH). The page should load with an old satellite view image from before the slide, and also with a current image of the slide. ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/63 "2017-05-25T16:10:34Z")
True, when I travelled up Hwy 1 a couple years ago, I noticed a lot of construction zones and a bunch of places where I got the “this is not gonna look the same next time I’m here” feeling. Looking things up, I see that the segment between Carmel and San Simeon was built 1919-1937 and had been suffering interruptions for decades. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:21pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/64 "2017-05-25T16:21:25Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Looking things up, I see that the segment between Carmel and San Simeon was built 1919-1937 and had been suffering interruptions for decades. Yes. In March I drove there and then posted this: > [@](#): > > On the drive out I couldn’t help but note the similar bridges along the way, all built in the 1930s: > > 1933: Wildcat Creek Bridge ([web images](https://www.google.com/search?q=1933:+Wildcat+Creek+Bridge&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=misvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigyd3k2dLSAhVFjVQKHSzBC-8Q_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=672#imgrc=gpzG0wD9QcoEeM:)) > 1935: Malpaso Creek Bridge ([web images](https://www.google.com/search?q=1933:+Wildcat+Creek+Bridge&client=safari&hl=en-us&prmd=misvn&source=lnms&tbm=isch&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwigyd3k2dLSAhVFjVQKHSzBC-8Q_AUICCgC&biw=1024&bih=672#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=1935:+Malpaso+Creek+Bridge&*&imgrc=wMkVjy-QV1esgM:)) > 1932: Granite Canyon Bridge ([web images](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=1024&bih=672&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=ySjGWPGQBuOS0gLFx4b4Dg&q=1932%3A+Granite+Canyon+Bridge&oq=1932%3A+Granite+Canyon+Bridge&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3..35i39k1.54007.54007.0.55178.3.2.1.0.0.0.124.124.0j1.1.0....0...1c.2.64.mobile-gws-img..1.2.138.3.OIPSSh51P9M#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=Bridge,+Granite+Canyon&*&imgrc=rYvPM5GdheZ3wM:)) > 1931: Garrapata Creek Bridge ([web images](https://www.google.com/search?client=safari&hl=en-us&biw=1024&bih=672&tbm=isch&sa=1&ei=dCjGWPjIO8iU0wLm75uADw&q=Granite+Canyon+Bridge+Highway+1&oq=Granite+Canyon+Bridge+Highway+1&gs_l=mobile-gws-img.3...17469.26899.0.27929.15.12.3.0.0.0.202.1178.6j4j1.11.0....0...1c.1.64.mobile-gws-img..1.6.556...35i39k1j30i10k1.6ufmMAiaqKc#hl=en-us&tbm=isch&q=1931:+Garrapata+Creek+Bridge&*&imgrc=W9SJytw6OoA1pM:)) > > All these bridges are pretty old. ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/65 "2017-05-25T16:29:25Z")
A tangential comment about the Malpaso Creek Bridge I mentioned in post 64: Malpaso is the name of Clint Eastwood’s production company. Eastwood named his company after that creek that runs through his property there. Eastwood spent many years in that area. ---
**Author:** ![Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/13edae/32.png) [@Stranger\_On\_A\_Train](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Stranger_On_A_Train)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 4:35pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/66 "2017-05-25T16:35:55Z")
> [@JRDelirious](#): > > Looking things up, I see that the segment between Carmel and San Simeon was built 1919-1937 and had been suffering interruptions for decades. That section (from Pt. Lobos at the north to Ragged Point at the south) is either at the foot of or cut into the western side of the Santa Lucia mountain range and is basically just abutting the Pacific Ocean. There is nowhere for rain and loose material to go other than on or over the Coast Highway, and no practical way to protect the entire length. The sentiment that the residents will be better exercised and more healthy is all well and good but realize that the livelihood of that community is almost entirely dependent upon tourism, and without access to Julia Pfieffer Burns and Limekiln State Parks and the beaches and overlooks, a lot of people are out of work and businesses hemorrhaging money to maintain structures with no foreseeable income. This is not in any way, shape, or form a good thing for the residents in and around Big Sur. Stranger ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/67 "2017-05-25T17:05:33Z")
> [@Bullitt](#): > > Yes – many! Much of Highway 1 along Northern California’s Pacific coastline is prone to slides. One recent bypass was completed a couple of years ago: the **Devil’s Slide Bypass Tunnels**. Here is a map: [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/GS2eiW). On that map, the tunnel’s entrances connect to the old stretch of Hwy 1 that follows the coast to the west. Winter landslides were common for many years and closed the highway. > > That Devil’s Slide Bypass project had been discussed off and on for at least 40+ years around these parts before those tunnels were completed in 2013. > > That didn’t find it for me but here is a map link that should work: [Google Maps](https://goo.gl/kkV3uH). The page should load with an old satellite view image from before the slide, and also with a current image of the slide. I will add that they repaved the old Devil’s Slide road overlooking the ocean and made it a great recreation trail. People should go walk or ride it before it slips away again, as I suspect if the damage is eventually too great, they will let nature reclaim it altogether. This [article from CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/us/california-landslide-scenic-highway/) has a clever slider that lets you see the before and after of the Mud Creek slide. I wonder who lives in that house with the switchback driveway to the right… ---
**Author:** ![Bullitt](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bullitt/32/5725_2.png) [@Bullitt](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bullitt)\ **Post date:** [May 25, 2017, 5:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/68 "2017-05-25T17:57:12Z")
> [@snowthx](#): > > I will add that they repaved the old Devil’s Slide road overlooking the ocean and made it a great recreation trail. People should go walk or ride it before it slips away again, as I suspect if the damage is eventually too great, they will let nature reclaim it altogether. > > This [article from CNN](http://www.cnn.com/2017/05/24/us/california-landslide-scenic-highway/) has a clever slider that lets you see the before and after of the Mud Creek slide. I wonder who lives in that house with the switchback driveway to the right… Good point about hiking that Devil’s Slide trail. I will make a point to get out there. Cool slider in that article. And that house, I was able to find it on the map. Its lat long coords are 35.86357, -121.42422, and here is the map of it: [_ **Who’s House is @ 35.86357 -121.42422?** _](https://goo.gl/70XKyj) On my iPad, that URL zooms in right onto the roof. Does it do that for others? I hope so. ---
**Author:** ![jasg](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/f0a364/32.png) [@jasg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/jasg)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 4:44am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/69 "2017-05-27T04:44:50Z")
Here is more info on the house. [https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/95377643/73275-Highway-1-Big-Sur-CA-93920/](https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/95377643/73275-Highway-1-Big-Sur-CA-93920/) ---
**Author:** ![JRDelirious](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/jrdelirious/32/9531_2.png) [@JRDelirious](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/JRDelirious)\ **Post date:** [May 27, 2017, 1:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999/70 "2017-05-27T13:38:20Z")
I wonder how that property assessment is going to be affected by the latest events. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/highway-1-bridge-fails-cutting-off-big-sur/781999.md?page=3)