Thirty-five years old this Sept. 5, the Foresthill Bridge spanning the North Fork of the American River has become much more than a well-engineered mass of structural steel and concrete.

With concrete piers 403 feet high supporting a two-lane vehicle crossing that measures nearly a half-mile long, the bridge looms large from the American River confluence 730 feet below and provides a majestic, vertigo-inducing view from on high near its center.

Built at a cost of $13.5 million in the early 1970s, it was constructed to provide an American River crossing when the Auburn dam was completed. The water would have reached just below its steel skeleton but the dam was delayed by earthquake concerns, then financial questions, and today remains unbuilt downstream.

The happy accident for bridge lovers and locals with an eye for an icon has been a scenic landmark that hugs the landscape in pea-green splendor but also can lay claim to being the third highest bridge in the U.S. as well as the highest in California.

It’s not uncommon to see a gaggle of locals mixed with visitors taking the walk into the middle of the bridge for the view.

Jim Ferris, founding member of the Auburn State Recreation Area Canyon Keepers group, has a view from his home of the sweep of the span.

“If anyone had never seen or heard about the bridge and came upon it, I could understand if they would be a little shocked,” Ferris said. “But anyone at all familiar with the area views it as a landmark that you can see from a whole number of places.”

Ferris said that for canyon users, views of it are available from any number of places.

“With the history though, it makes it a lot more interesting,” Ferris said.

And like other locals, Ferris takes visitors to see the bridge. But he takes them on a roundabout route – over the bridge and onto Old Foresthill Road, to see the top and then a view from the bottom.

Over the years, the bridge has seen duty as a jumping off point for BASE jumpers (including a couple who just exchanged vows before leaping into matrimony), a set piece for movies and ads (“xXx” with Vin Diesel and Disney’s “The Phantom”) and a location for bizarre stunts (in 1999, stunt athlete Dave Barlia became the first and only human being to slingshot off the bridge).

Sadly, the bridge has also attracted its share of suicide jumpers – 47 at last count, despite a recently installed hotline to give potential jumpers a chance to talk things out.

And then there is all that garbage marring the scenery at the bottom of the bridge. After more than three decades, it must be at least two generations of dumpers who have thrown everything from computers to shopping carts from the nearby Raley’s to a live chicken off the span. Twice a year, Protect American River Canyons joins with the state Parks Department for a massive cleanup that involves helicoptering out the major pieces of personal detritus that get flung off the bridge.

A symbol of many things – mid-20th century hopefulness, tragic losses, adrenaline-fueled craziness and skillful engineering – the Foresthill Bridge has also grown to become one of the major, enduring icons of the Auburn community.

The Journal’s Gus Thomson can be reached at gust@goldcountrymedia.com.