The upper trestle in the background is the Henry Ford Bridge, pretty much the boundary between Los Angeles and Long Beach harbors. Maybe when I grow up (or get a nerdectomy) I will get over how cool it is when they raise that thing when you call 'em on channel 13! The Henry Ford Bridge is actually a Rail span. The lower bridge next to it is the roadway for the 47 freeway out of the harbor. Clearance is 34 feet so I did not have to make them raise it.
Theo - 34 feet is pretty close for clearance. That will be charted from MHHW so in general the clearance should be more than this, but a storm surge, astronomical high tide, etc could eat into this margin the wrong way too.
Your tidal range in LA is 4-5 feet from what I recalling sailing Long Beach ??
Anyway, you can tell Im a bit paranoid on this stuff...but I havent hit any bridges yet either...
You are right, it was a tight fit. I calculate the mast on an X to be 28 feet and guesstimate it to be about 5 to 6 feet above the water for a necessary clearance of between 33 and 34 feet. In all honesty there is this funky little height chart at the base of the bridge and the minmum clearance was 34 feet but the water was marking closer to the next big number 36 feet. Yeah it was high tide too. Hey, maybe I should have called and made them raise the Admiral Heim Bridge.