Historic Yankee Jims Bridge replacement project begins

Yahoo

19-05-2025

PLACER COUNTY, Calif. – A Placer County bridge that is nearly 100 years old is officially closed to traffic. The Yankee Jims Replacement Project, a three-year construction project, began Monday to replace the historic Yankee Jims Bridge.
The replacement project is one that Placer County officials have been eyeing for more than a decade. The current bridge is one-lane, about 11 feet wide and has a load capacity of 3-tons. The new bridge will be two-lanes, about 28 feet wide and support two full permit loads side-by-side.
A marvel of its time, the Yankee Jims Bridge is now considered rickety and old by many.
'In 1930, the previous bridge collapsed, and the county built this bridge as an emergency replacement project,' Placer County Engineering Manager Kevin Ordway said.
The bridge is a nod to Yankee Jim himself, a lawless horse thief during the California gold rush. The namesake and bridge are a piece of history, but flash forward to 2025 — a new chapter begins for the rural community there.
'It wasn't built for the vehicles we have today, but it was a pretty unique structure back in 1930,' Ordway said.
For decades, Yankee Jims Bridge was a safe way to connect Forest Hill and the train station in Colfax during the gold rush era, but times have changed.
'The thing that's critical is it's a safety project,' Ordway said.
While the bridge is used mainly by the rural community and some visitors, its replacement is being built to give emergency vehicles access across the river and to create a safer evacuation route between Colfax and Forest Hill.
'In 2012, we had the Robbers Fire which started just up the canyon in Churchill Creek and the initial attack came from Colfax, and they got down here, and they couldn't cross the bridge, and it delayed the response,' Ordway said.
As a new bridge built to last the next century takes shape, the old Yankee Jims Bridge will remain intact right next to it. The county said the new steel arch suspension bridge was designed to complement the historic bridge.
'It's going to be a lot larger. It's going to be higher and bigger and, you know, it's designed for the standards today,' Ordway said.
The new suspension bridge is being funded primarily through the federal Highway Bridge Program. Alongside construction of the bridge, officials are also looking at how to improve parking in the surrounding areas that will allow emergency vehicles access at all times.
'It's disappointing that it's going to be closed for three years. We use it generally from January through until the river gets too low to run, which is anywhere between mid-June and early July,' Placerville resident Ricky McDaniel said.
Due to the remote location and limited access to the area where the bridge is being built, the county said it's imperative that their contractor close the roads for the entirety of the construction project.
Yankee Jims Road between Gillis Hill Road and Shirttail Canyon Road will be closed. Drivers should take Foresthill Road in the meantime.
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