Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge

The Vietnam Veterans Memorial Bridge spans the Sacramento River on Interstate-5, connecting Yolo and Sacramento counties (to the west and east, respectively). This is a view from atop a levee to the south of the bridge. Unlike many bridges near the Sacramento and San Joaquin Delta, this bridge is not a drawbridge, having enough clearance for relatively large ships. The bridge connects to an elevated portion of I-5 to the west which runs over an area called the Yolo Bypass (the flat area visible to the west over the railroad tracks on the side of the levee opposite the river). The Yolo Bypass is a 59,000 acre leveed floodplain used for flood abatement that contains agricultural land (mostly planted to rice because of its clayey soil texture), riparian and wetland habitat, and grasslands. A dredger on the river is visible, demonstrative of the fact that gravel is a major export of California. Notice also the marina, showing the popularity of boating and water sports near the delta. The weather on this day was particularly interesting for the Central Valley in September, with strong rain, hail, and some lightning from cumulonimbus clouds. The dark clouds to the left of where the railroad tracks vanish into the horizon caused flooding and hail in the Sacramento area.

Deciding to stay local, this is the largest bridge within my county of residence. This panorama is also a symbolic bridge of learning since Landis taught me how to shoot and stitch panoramas on this day.

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USA-Canada / USA-California

Lat: 38° 40' 16" N
Long: 122° 38' 31" W

→ maps.google.com [EXT]

Precision is: Unknown / Undeclared.

Hardware: D100, Nikkor 18mm Lens, Kaidan QuickPan III Spherical
Software: PTMac, XBlend, CubicConverter, Photoshop 7.0, QT Player Pro