Biggest Bridge of Its Kind Hits Milestone in California

Crews in California are building what will be the biggest bridge of its kind upon completion, and they reached a critical milestone this week: Workers laid the first soil on the structure—which is designed for wildlife, not humans. As the Los Angeles Times explains, the Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing over the 101 Freeway is being built to help animals cross the 10-lane expanse. Construction began in 2022 and is scheduled to be finished in 2026. Monday, however, saw a tangible piece of the puzzle take shape with the first soil.

It will take weeks to lay the roughly 6,000 cubic yards of dirt, which ABC7 explains was developed by soil scientists to mimic the surrounding landscape. Thousands of native plants will follow in May, per LAist. "Three hundred [thousand] to 400,000 cars a day—so we have to ... almost trick [the animals] into thinking they're not on the freeway," says Beth Pratt of the National Wildlife Federation. Sound barriers also will play a role in that. The hope is to make the bridge as natural looking as possible so that everything from bobcats and mountain lions to deer and rabbits will move over it.

"Basically they're restoring the mountain to what it once was, so wildlife won't even know they're crossing the freeway," says Jeremy Wolf, mayor pro tem of Agoura Hills, where the bridge is located. The $92 million structure is a private-public enterprise, but the Annenberg Foundation is a major donor. (More California stories.)