Eucalyptus Smashes Quince Street Span

The Quince Street footbridge in Banker's Hill is out of commission and closed. According to Hillquest.com, "A western portion of the 106-year-old wooden pedestrian bridge that crosses Maple Canyon connecting Banker’s Hill to Balboa Park was crushed by a large eucalyptus tree on Sunday [March 20]."

While driving on Fourth Avenue on March 21, I stopped alongside the bridge to overhear a Channel 8 news reporter saying that a nearby resident heard a "loud crunch" during the windy conditions the previous day.

Among a stand of large eucalyptus trees near the bridge, one tree had fallen over and split in two. The top of the eucalyptus was on one side of the bridge while the remainder of the tree lay on the other side. The tree took out handrails, and the City of San Diego had come out to put "Sidewalk Closed" signs on each end of the bridge.

The Quince Street Bridge is 236 feet long and hangs 60 feet above Maple Canyon. It was designed by engineer and Banker’s Hill resident George A. d’Hemecourt and completed in 1905.