The Tower Bridge spanning the Sacramento River at Sacramento
Tower Bridge across Sacramento River

After completion of construction in the 1930's, the Tower Bridge design won a national award.
Today's Tower Bridge across the Sacramento River—replacing the old M Street Bridge and opening in 1935—was the first vertical-lift span bridge on the California highway system. An informational board on the Sacramento River Bike Trail, which intersects Capitol Mall (State Route 275) before it continues over the bridge, further explains that “the bridge deck and sidewalks were built with an experimental lightweight concrete that was used later in the construction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.” The Tower Bridge is named for the two streamlined 160-feet-high towers. Since its construction, the bridge has been painted using various color schemes—with the choice of all gold since 2002.

In 1982, the Tower Bridge—the new M Street Bridge, also named Capitol Avenue Bridge—was added to the National Register of Historic Places. Much earlier, right after its construction, the bridge won a national award declaring it as “the most beautiful bridge built during the past year” (see the article “Tower Bridge Wins National Award” by Everett L. Walsh, Associate Bridge Engineer, in California Highways And Public Works, July 1936).
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Sight-seeing Sacramento
▶ The historic Crocker Mansion
▶ Crocker Art Museum: Teel Family Pavilion entrance