Richmond-San Rafael Bridge for kids
The Roller-Coaster Bridge. A true story near Richmond, CA, told for kids 3-12.
Read along
Whee! We're on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge! It's more than five miles long! Feel how it goes up, and down, and up again?
People call it the roller-coaster bridge. Want to know why it has those big humps? So the tall ships can sail underneath! The bridge goes way up high over the deep parts of the water where the big boats go, and dips down low where the water is shallow.
And here's a weird one. This bridge is a double-decker, like a sandwich! Cars going one way drive on the top, and cars going the other way drive on the bottom. Which deck do you think we're on?
Quiz the back seat
Why does the bridge have big humps?
Show the answer
So tall ships can pass under. So tall ships can sail right underneath!
3 fun facts
- Opened in 1956.
- About 5.5 miles long.
- A double-deck bridge: one direction on each level.
For grown-ups
Written by the Tumbly team, then checked claim by claim against the sources below before it was published; stories that don't pass stay off the app and this site. Narration is pre-recorded, and nothing you do on this page is tied to your kids.
Sources
Roads
Town and county names: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0).