Marques Vickers' "Northern California Coastal Bridges: Picturesque and Distinctive Spans" is a photographic survey of bridges spanning the major coastal waterbodies that dominate the northern region of the state. The photographic edition is the first in a series of three Pacific Coast profiles highlighting unique and distinguished steel, stone and concrete fabricated structures. The book features diverse vehicle, railroad and pedestrian crossings stretched along coastal Northern California.Prominent inclusions are three bridges spanning San Francisco Bay including the Golden Gate, San Francisco-Oakland and San Mateo-Hayward Bridges. Lesser known are several crossings integrated into northbound Interstate 101, also known as the Redwood Highway leading into Oregon. These spans include the Pickleweed Inlet, Irwin Creek, Eel River South Fork and Samoa Island Bridges. Numerous smaller community bridges are profiled including the Arroyo Grande Creek, Jennifer Street, Pearl Street, Mare Island Causeway, Healdsburg Avenue, Rio Dell, Fernbridge Bridges and Loleta Railroad Trestle. These diminutive spans augment better-known commuter bridges including the Carquinez Strait, Benicia-Martinez, Blackpoint, and Napa River Bridges. Historical backgrounds are included for all the spans along with design specifics and dimensions.Over the past three years, Vickers has been photographing and documenting diverse and lesser known Pacific Coast attractions and architecture. This coastal bridge edition showcases the diversity of structural designs coupled by the examination of the regional dependence on waterways and pragmatic coexistence solutions.
About the Author: Visual Artist, Writer and Photographer Marques Vickers is a California native presently living in the San Francisco Bay Area and Seattle, Washington regions. He was born in 1957 and raised in Vallejo, California. He is a 1979 Business Administration graduate from Azusa Pacific University in the Los Angeles area. Following graduation, he became the Public Relations and ultimately Executive Director of the Burbank Chamber of Commerce between 1979-84. He subsequently became the Vice President of Sales for AsTRA Tours and Travel in Westwood between 1984-86. Following a one-year residence in Dijon, France where he studied at the University of Bourgogne, he began Marquis Enterprises in 1987. His company operations have included sports apparel exporting, travel and tour operations, wine brokering, publishing, rare book and collectibles reselling. He has established numerous e-commerce, barter exchange and art websites including MarquesV.com, ArtsInAmerica.com, InsiderSeriesBooks.com, DiscountVintages.com and WineScalper.com. Between 2005-2009, he relocated to the Languedoc region of southern France. He concentrated on his painting and sculptural work while restoring two 19th century stone village residences. His figurative painting, photography and sculptural works have been sold and exhibited internationally since 1986. He re-established his Pacific Coast residence in 2009 and has focused his creative productivity on writing and photography. His published works span a diverse variety of subjects including true crime, international travel, California wines, architecture, history, Southern France, Pacific Coast attractions, fiction, auctions, fine art marketing, poetry, fiction and photojournalism. He has two daughters, Charline and Caroline who presently reside in Europe.