Napa County, California Bridges: Aetna Springs Road Bridge across Swartz Creek

December 2013 (36.65338 Degree, -122.47640 Degrees) Aetna Springs Road Bridge

I often see fencing under bridges but I don't understand why. Is it to prevent livestock from escaping under the bridge?

East of Napa Valley is Pope Valley, which isn't as famous but has many vineyards and many old arch bridges. The first bridge we arrived at in Pope Valley was the Aetna Springs Road Bridge (21C0046) over Swartz Creek. It's a single span stone arch bridge that was built in 1912. The bridge is 54 ft long but only 15 ft wide.

A new sign was erected that is in sharp contrast to the old bridge. Aetna Springs Road Bridge was registered as a historical place in 2005, like many of the other old arch bridges in Napa County. The registration states: 'Napa County Surveyor, O.H. Buckman, designed the Swartz Creek Bridge in 1912. Buckman served as a Napa County Surveyor from 1895 until about the time of World War I. The abundance of masonry arch bridges in Napa County is primarily due to his design efforts. This bridge was built by contractor A.C. Martini for a cost of $2549.50.' 

Napa County, California Bridges: Aetna Springs Road Bridge across Swartz Creek by Mark Yashinsky is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License.