The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay. The strait connects Suisun Bay, which receives the waters of the combined rivers, with San Pablo Bay, a northern extension of the San Francisco Bay.
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Location
The strait forms part of the border between Solano (to the north) and Contra Costa (to the south) counties, and is approximately 15 mi (25 km) north of Oakland. The cities of Benicia and Vallejo lie on the north side of the strait, while Martinez, Port Costa, and Crockett sit on the southern coast. The Napa River joins the strait, via the short Mare Island Strait, near its entrance into San Pablo Bay.
Name
The strait is named after the Karkin ("los Carquines" in Spanish), a lingustic division of the Ohlone Native Americans who resided on both sides of the Strait.[1]
Installations
The California Maritime Academy is at the western end of the strait on the northern waterfront. A refinery is at the eastern end on the southern shore.
Bridges
The strait is crossed by two highway bridges, the Carquinez Bridge on Interstate 80 and the Benicia-Martinez Bridge on Interstate 680. Each highway bridge is composed of two spans.
Interstate 780 connects the two highways on the northern slope of the strait. State Route 4 connects these highways to South of and inland from the strait.
A rail bridge is just east of the Benicia-Martinez bridge, which is used by the Capitol Corridor, California Zephyr, and Coast Starlight trains. A rail ferry, with the ferries Contra Costa and Solano provided service across the strait, near the location of the current rail bridge, until the rail bridge was built in 1930.
Some tall pylons carrying power lines cross the Strait as well.
Ship traffic
The channel is navigable and is used for commercial and military shipping. Deep water ship traffic bound for both the Port of Sacramento and the Port of Stockton traverse the straight.
Formation of delta
The narrow gap in the Coast Range that the strait goes through has led to the formation of the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, an inverted river delta, behind it, which is a rare geological feature.
Trivia
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- In 1985, an errant humpback whale swam up the Carquinez Strait as far as Rio Vista. Named Humphrey the whale by the media, he was successfully turned around and rescued by The Marine Mammal Center and other volunteers.
- The USNS Glomar Explorer (T-AG-193) was moored for many years at the eastern end of the straight.
- World's first larger powerline crossing was built there, Carquinez Strait Powerline Crossing
References
Coordinates: 38°03′33″N 122°12′45″W / 38.05918°N 122.21260°W
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