Benicia-Martinez Bridge

The Benicia – Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges that cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay; the spans connect Benicia, California on the north side with Martinez, California on the south side.

In August 2007, Kiewit completed the Benicia-Martinez Bridge. The five-lane, 8.790-foot toll bridge drives northbound vehicles across the Carquinez Strait and connects the City of Benicia in Solano County and the City of Martinez in Contra Costa County. The bridge runs parallel to the existing six-lane Benicia Martinez Bridge and the Union Pacific Railroad Bridge.

Substructure work required the construction of 17 piers, 12 of which are water piers. These piers are based on 99 concrete and steel piles, which are approximately 8 feet in diameter and almost 300 feet in the basement below. In order to reduce the impacts on native fish habitat, Kiewit, in conjunction with the California Department of Transportation, has developed an air-bubble curtain system to contain the sound waves generated by pile driving. The bridge’s 1,700-ton sockets were built off-site, floated in place and supported on the piles.

The segmental superstructure of the bridge consists of 11 pier tables and 344 concrete segments. The segments were cast-in – place balanced cantilevers using a travel form system to cast the entire superstructure into 15-foot sections.

The Bridge Topped Roads & Bridges Top 10 Bridges list published in November 2006 is one of the longest bridges of its kind in the United States.

The tolls are collected only from northbound traffic at the toll plaza on the south side of the bridge. The toll rate for passenger cars is $6 on January 1 , 2019. Carpool vehicles carrying three or more persons or motorcycles pay a discounted toll of $3.00 during peak traffic hours. For vehicles with more than two axles, the rate of toll is $6 per axle. Drivers can either pay by cash or use the FasTrak electronic toll collection device. Credit cards shall not be accepted for payment.

The toll plaza has nine lanes with toll booths and nine other lanes with open road tolls (ORT) in two zones. There are two travel lanes and four shoulder lanes in one ORT zone. The other ORT zone has a carpool travel lane with two shoulder lanes. This bridge is the first open road tolling facility in Northern California and the first open road tolling bridge in California.

The view point is located on the north side of the span, providing an excellent view of the 3 parallel bridges that cross the Carquinez Strait and the Diablo Mountain in the background. It has ample parking, picnic tables and a large compass for orientation. This is typically the point where cyclists and pedestrians want to park their cars across the bridge.