Mattole River Bridge Replacement to Begin May 12
The Humboldt County Department of Public Works will begin construction to replace the Mattole River Bridge on Mattole Road in Honeydew starting Monday, May 12, 2025. The project is expected to continue through November 2025.
A detour will be in place whenever the bridge is out of service.
For questions or concerns, contact Resident Engineer Angi Sorensen at (707) 445-7448.
Motorists are advised to plan ahead and exercise caution in the area during construction.
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Can you replace the bridge trolls too?
Yes, we can Akbar by taking you off of it.
After untold years I guess that old bridge is due for retirement. I believe it is mostly metal and slowly rusts to pieces. It always makes me a little sad when a piece of our local history is taken down.
IMHO Stuff:
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Seems like the old ‘steel framed single lane wood paving’… bridge was just fine.
Getting to it with big construction loads was a hassle though !
Oh well.
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Dope traffic has been really reduced in that area.
Lots of empty/decaying hoop houses out there.
A few of the bigger dope farms are holding on, but they may go broke in the future.
But heck… I dunno.
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Any rate, not a lot of traffic on that Panther Gap-Potholed road any more.
If it helps, I gather that the metal parts have been damaged over the years by repeated truck strikes, and it’s being eaten by rust.
Not so much. There’s been very few truck hits, partly because many modern trucks and trailers don’t fit the width of the bridge (~10′). Parts of the deck and the railings were rehabbed in the last 10 years. I went across it a few days ago. It’s functionally obsolete partly because it can’t be made to current codes (dual lanes) and seismic retrofitting without destroying it, even though it is historical. The county couldn’t get funding for a lookalike replacement so a boring looking one is going in instead.
There was a temporary bridge built near it to accommodate the loads. I say was because the deck was removed for winter but a crossing will be put back now that river flows are down. Also, the rock is coming from the quarry just uphill from it on Mattole Rd, so they don’t have to travel more than 1/2 mile to the build site. Only empty trucks were crossing the bridge, and those that could fit the narrow width. We had to back allllllll the way out for a couple dump trucks, keeping with the unwritten rule there that right of way goes to who’s biggest or who’s first.