Lighting: San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge

The San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge, completed in 1969, is an iconic landmark that curves and stretches over 3 km on State Route 75 connecting two contrasting cultures of California: San Diego, the crowded metropolis industrialized by advancing technology, and the affluent resort destination of Coronado, nicknamed The Crown City, five miles from San Diego.

Speirs + Major and FoRM Associates won an international contest to redesign the bridge lighting, expected to be completed by the bridge’s 50th anniversary in 2019. The LED lights are designed to reveal and accentuate the core architectural components with a complex programmable lighting plan, illuminating the steel girders and roadway of the bridge and tracking and responding to the intensity of road and boat traffic travelling across and under the bridge. The electricity used to light the bridge will be harnessed in a neutral-energy manner, generated by wind turbines.

The San Diego-Coronado Bay Bridge illumination is an initiative by the Port of San Diego and the California Department of Transportation. The project is led by UK based Peter Fink of FoRM Associates and Mark Major of Spiers + Major, with association from Buro Happold in Los Angeles.