Like many people who visit California each year, the Big Sur was on my to do list. Completed in 1934, this stretch of highway from Carmel to San Simeon on the Californian coast is reported to be stunning. Hugging the cliffs this scenic road crosses 33 bridges, including the Bixby Creek and Pfeiffer Canyon bridges, which I'd been told are a must see.
However, nature has been busy showing who's boss round here, and our trip down the Big Sur was not to be.
Heavy rains this winter led to landslides along the road as well as shifting part of the Pfeiffer Bridge by several feet, fracturing 2 of its 3 columns, damaged beyond repair. The Big Sur is likely to be closed until the bridge replacement is completed in 2018, at an expected cost of about $25 million (so be warned if you were planning a trip anytime soon!).
This closure has split the residents into two sections, with a 6 hour round trip drive to access either side from the other. This is understandably having a large effect on the community and their economy, and shows just how much they rely on the infrastructure.
The photo above shows the Elephant Seals at San Simeon which was the only Big Sur section we got to.
There has of course been uproar and numerous articles and statements from locals, and it's interesting to see the reactions. Some focus on how to make the best of the situation - a nice little note was reported in The Denver Post, that a 2ft wide trail is under construction to allow people who live either side of the damaged span to bypass it by walking, and a fire brigade escort will then bring them back and forth in the mornings and evenings to access the walkway. Others deem the closure unacceptable, the inconvenience too long, and demand a better solution.
Notoriously beautiful areas are often notoriously hard to access and build in (which is probably what keeps them beautiful!), and this area is no exception. The construction itself was difficult, and the route has been closed numerous times due to earthquake, landslide, and erosion. There seems to be constant repair work, retaining wall installation to prevent landslides and bypasses in some areas as the coast is eroded by the sea. This is true in fact for the route all the way up the west coast.
We encountered many similar road closures and diversions further north due to landslides. We also saw many teams working on the roads (shown above, this is right next to a sheer drop to the ocean), doing their best to keep the route open at the same time, and closer to the edge than I'd like to be! All this work repeatedly being needed does make me wonder if there's a better solution - is there a better way to build this road, or should we allow nature to claim it back?
The photo above is of the San Simeon coastline from Hearst Castle, which we were still able to access. Unfortunately I'm not allowed to publish photos of this, but it's worth looking up to see what it looks like! It's a huge mansion with a rather bizarre mix of facade styles on top of a reinforced concrete frame. It was built by newspaper magnate William Randolph Hearst as he wanted something a bit more comfortable to stay in than a tent... when you see the house and learn about the man, you start to see where The Great Gatsby came from!
Most interesting for me though, was the story of Julia Morgan who made the project happen. Despite being referred to throughout as an 'architect', the tour highlighted how she set to work with Hearst in 1919 to build the castle. She completed the survey, analysed the geology, drew the plans and oversaw the construction. She even devised a gravity-fed water supply that transported water from Pine Mountain, 7 miles away, to a reservoir she designed less than a mile from the castle. Only from looking into it later did I find - she graduated as a civil engineer from Berkeley. Enough said.