Dinkey Creek Bridge

The Dinkey Creek Bridge, also known as Fresno County Bridge No. 42C-04, is a single-span, bowstring-arch timber truss bridge that crosses Dinkey Creek in Fresno County, California, within Sierra National Forest. Built in 1938, it closed to automobile traffic in 1965 and was renovated in 1988 to replace rotting timbers. Designed by T.K. May, it was built by the U.S. Forest Service with Civilian Conservation Corps (CCC) labor. The structure was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1996.HistoryThe construction of the Dinkey Creek Bridge was part of a wider effort to improve access to recreation and timber resources in the area. The bridge was designed by engineer T.K. "Tank" May. The concrete abutments were designed by the Fresno County Surveyor in June 1938, and construction on the bridge completed that year. Designed as a highway bridge to carry McKinley Grove Road, it was built by the U.S. Forest Service with Civilian Conservation Corps labor. The Colletti Construction Company of San Rafael cut the timber and test assembled it, before disassembling it and shipping it to the site to be erected by a CCC crew.The name "Dinkey" comes from a dog by that name, which is applied to the bridge, creek, lake, meadow, and nearby mountain. Two stories of the origin of the name are noted, in which the dog was either injured or killed in an altercation with a bear, after which the area was named "Dinkey".