Above: this sepia image captured the wooden falsework on the completed Dog Creek bridge. Year: 1927. Photographer unknown. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.
In 1926, a general engineer named Charles E. Andrew began the construction on the brand-new 234-foot open spandrel arch shaped Dog Creek bridge which is located in the Sacramento River Canyon, 30 miles north of Redding at Dog Creek, and just east of present-day Interstate 5. This bridge was designed by a general engineer named Harlan D. Miller, of Oakland, who was the State Bridge Engineer for the California Division of Highways from 1923 until he died while maintaining that position in 1926. Miller is also credited with designing the open spandrel arch shaped Charlie Creek and Doney Creek bridges in Lakehead.
Above: this sepia image captured the Route Highway 99 traversing through the canyon with the Dog Creek bridge under construction. Year: 1927. Photographer unknown. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.
When the Dog Creek bridge construction was completed it connected motorists with U.S. Route Highway 99 (also known as the Pacific Highway) spanning Dog Creek Canyon as a two-lane bridge for $123,000, despite original reports stating that it could be built for $110,000. The Dog Creek bridge was opened for public transportation on December 4, 1927, and its services were suspended thirty-years later in 1957. During 1957 a brand-new four-lane north and south bound bridge span connected motorists with Interstate 5 which was built an eighth of a mile west of the Dog Creek bridge. Before the four-lane bridge was built it was planned, that year, for the north bound traffic to utilize the Dog Creek bridge and have the south bound traffic utilize the brand-new bridge but that changed before the four-lane bridge was completed and the Dog Creek bridge became abandoned.
In 1927, the California Division of Highways dedicated the Dog Creek bridge to the memory of Harlan D. Miller. Later on, in 1974 a resolution was passed by the California Legislature that officially changed the name of this historic bridge to the Harlan D. Miller Memorial bridge. For many years, this historic bridge was scheduled to be dynamited by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and then in 1977 the bureaucrats in Sacramento wanted it dynamited as well. Yet, this bridge was saved from being dynamited that year. Presently, this bridge is protected by Federal law and it was designated as a California Historical Landmark on May 29, 1984. The bridge is still intact and visible today.
Above: a sepia image of an open span aerial view of the Dog Creek bridge. Year: 1927. Photographer unknown. From the collection of Jeremy Tuggle.
Above: Present day. L-R: Jeremy M. Tuggle and his son, Carson K. Tuggle, below the historic Harlan D. Miller Bridge along the railroad tracks near the confluence of the Sacramento River and Dog Creek. This photograph was taken January 21, 2022 by Jeremy Tuggle.
RESOURCES:
H.D Miller Is Named New Bridge Engineer - The Stockton Independent newspaper of Stockton, December 2, 1924
Napa Contractors Low Bridge Builders - The Healdsburg Tribune newspaper of Healdsburg, August 31, 1926
Two Highway Bridges Open Next Sunday - The Courier-Free Press newspaper of Redding, December 1, 1927
Blue Lake Advocate newspaper of Blue Lake, December 17, 1927
Harlan D. Miller Memorial Bridge by Charles E. Andrew - Western Construction News newsletter, page 47, December 25, 1927
Madera Tribune newspaper of Madera, December 29, 1927
Old Bridge written by Garth Sanders for the Record Searchlight newspaper, January 22, 1977
California Department of Transportation Library. McCurry Album Collection
The Sacramento River Canyon, SEC-E: 388, available at the Shasta Historical Society
Bridgehunter.com
That Ribbon Of Highway I: Highway 99 from the Oregon Border to the State Capital by Jill Livinston 1996 0-9651277-3-2 Second edition. Published by Living Gold Press. 212 Pages.
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