Redding CA Sundial Bridge

Sundial Bridge, Turtle Bay Park, Redding, California

November 11, 2005: We visited the Sundial Bridge in Turtle Bay Park, Redding California. The bridge walkway is glass allowing lights to shine through the walkway. The one main support (pylon) also acts as a sundial from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. This has become a popular local and tourist attraction.

Gwen and Morgan try out the pedestrian bridge created by Spanish Engineer Santiago Calatrava for the city of Redding, California. The cost of the bridge was 23 million so you can guess they had a fight about building it. This bridge has brought world attention to the city of Redding and constant tourist traffic to see and walk on it. The bridge is only a couple of mile off Interstate 5 and well worth stopping for a rest to explore.

These folks with the little girl balancing on one of the cable supports spoke very little English so they will take the word of the Sundial Bridge back to their home country when they return.

The walking surface of the bridge is made of glass to allow light to get to the water underneath. The bridge is also lighted from under the walkway at night which makes for an interesting study in the dark. It's difficult to believe these cables and single pylon support this bridge.

The Turtle Bay Cafe and Museum are additional locations for refreshment and information.

On June 21, the shadow of the Pylon points to a time line which begins at 11 a.m. then ends at 3 p.m. You can see the 2 p.m. marker to the right. The next marker where Gwen and Morgan are sitting is only 15 minutes so I imagine you can see the movement from one marker to the next. We arrived at about 2:30 but the shadow was already

off the end of the track. I can imagine it was a great deal of fun creating this track of time by the sun.

From under the bridge, you can see the shadows of the bridge walkers and their pets. The glass is opaque but allows light to pass through.

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