Photos: Meridian bridge swings into spring like clockwork

Toting children and lawn chairs, Meridian residents lined the levees on the Sacramento River Thursday morning for the annual rite of spring.

Shortly after 9 a.m., Department of Transportation workers shut down Highway 20 and lowered vehicle barricades on both sides of the bridge dividing Sutter and Colusa counties. Then, with gears and metal groaning, the span pivoted over to the Colusa side of the river and back, a journey that lasted about 10 minutes.

The 35-year-old turntable bridge is built on the foundation of an old railroad bridge that once carried electric trains and the highway across the water. The Meridian Bridge, like the Highway 113 Bridge in Knights Landing, must be able to open to allow large boats to navigate.