Los Angeles River Bridge Caches–Not So Fast

Last month, the Los Angeles City Council declared 11 bridges historic-cultural monuments. To honor their new status, I’ve done a new cache series: The Los Angeles River Bridge Caches.

Here are the bridges where I placed the caches:

Riverside-Figueroa Street Bridge 1939
Buena Vista Viaduct 1911
Spring Street Bridge 1928
Main Street Bridge 1910
First Street Bridge 1929
Fourth Street Bridge 1930
Sixth Street Bridge 1932
Seventh Street Bridge 1927
Olympic Blvd Bridge 1925
Washington Blvd Bridge 1931

These bridges were constructed between 1910 and 1939. Before 1910, the Los Angeles River was spanned by steel bridges that were considered “ugly.” The construction of the new bridges was part of a city beautification program. The bridges were built in the beaux-arts and Art Deco styles.

Unfortunately, none of the caches was approved. This is the note that each cache received:

Hello, I am a volunteer for Geocaching.com and I have just reviewed your new Los Angeles River Bridge series of caches. I am inactivating your caches while we address a problem with them.The problem is that all these cache appears to be on bridge spanning aqueducts and other public water supply sources, and several of them are on bridges that span railroad tracks. Geocaching.com guidelines prohibit, ” Caches near, on or under public structures deemed potential or possible targets for terrorist attacks. These may include but are not limited to highway bridges, dams, government buildings, elementary and secondary schools, and airports.”

Caches may be quickly archived if we see the following (which is not inclusive):

…

Caches hidden in close proximity to active railroad tracks. In general we use a distance of 150 ft but your local area’s trespassing laws may be different. All local laws apply.

You will find the guidelines here: (visit link)

Of course, the staff at GC.com has the final say on matters such as this, so I encourage you to seek approval by sending an e-mail to appeals@geocaching.com. If you send an e-mail, please don’t forget to include the GCxxxx code for each of the caches.

Thank you for your understanding and for your contributions to geocaching.

Marko Ramius
Geocaching.com Volunteer Cache Reviewer

I appealed the reviewer’s decision and this is what I received from the appeals process:

I am sorry but the reviewer was correct. Caches are not allowed in these areas. Please remove the caches as soon as possible.

I’ve tried appealing the appeal, but it didn’t go anywhere.

First and foremost please be advised there is no precedent for placing caches. This means that the past listing of a similar cache in and of itself is not a valid justification for the listing of a new cache. If a cache has been posted and violates any guidelines listed below, you are encouraged to report it. However, if the cache was placed prior to the date when a guideline was issued or updated the cache is likely to be “grandfathered” and allowed to stand as is.

I am sorry but an exception can not be granted for this series.

It was a nice adventure placing these caches. And a lot of work. Too bad the adventure won’t be shared by the geocaching community in Los Angeles.

Please know that you are all safe from being hit by a train while on the bridge, that the pristine water source–the Los Angeles River–won’t be threatened by these caches, and, most importantly, no terrorists will be aided in blowing up these bridges by the placement of these caches.