Redding highlight
Sundial Bridge
A 700-foot pedestrian bridge designed by Santiago Calatrava, opened in 2004, with a tilted tower that functions as a sundial for the Sacramento River crossing.
The Sundial Bridge spans 700 feet across the Sacramento River at Turtle Bay, completed in 2004 to designs by the Spanish architect Santiago Calatrava. The bridge carries pedestrians and cyclists from Turtle Bay Exploration Park toward the 35-mile Sacramento River Trail, a project that would be completed six years later. Its most distinctive feature is a 217-foot support tower tilted at a 42-degree angle; the shadow of this tower falls on the deck below and functions as a working sundial, marking Pacific Daylight Time as the sun moves across the sky.
The construction took longer than expected and cost $23.5 million, a significant investment the city made to connect its communities and to anchor a park that would include museums, wildlife exhibits, native plant gardens, and trails. The bridge's unique design—a cantilever spar cable-stayed structure that Calatrava had pioneered elsewhere—has become iconic in Redding; the shadow moves at roughly one foot per minute, making the Earth's rotation visible to anyone watching the dial.
Families who plan to be part of Redding's future, whether raising children by the river or building a business, think about what would happen to them if that future were interrupted. That's what term life insurance protects: a family's ability to stay in the home, finish school, and keep the business running. The Sundial Bridge exists because Redding invested in its future; life insurance serves a similar purpose at the household level.