Bridge News -- March 28, 2013

 

Yesterday the last toll takers left their booths on the Golden Gate Bridge.  Many drivers were confused and tried to stop and pay their tolls.  I'm sad to see all those people lose good union jobs.  

On the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge, workers discovered broken bolts.  A large number of bolts appear to have been made with brittle steel and will have to be replaced or retrofitted.  This could delay the Labor Day opening.  

I took the photo of the Golden Gate Bridge on 30-December-2007. 

Bay Bridge 75 -- November 12, 2011

Today is the 75th anniversary of the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. This Stanley A Piltz postcard shows the fairly new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The part between Yerba Buena Island and Oakland is being replaced. The single tower is in place.

Bay Bridge -- August 18, 2011

A Stanley A Piltz postcard shows the fairly new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The part between Yerba Buena Island and Oakland is being replaced.

China Clipper Anniversary -- November 22, 2010

Today is the 75th anniversary of Martin M-130 flying boat China Clipper taking off from Alameda, on its way to Manila. This was the beginning of scheduled trans-Pacific service. The first flight carried only mail. It went by stages to Honolulu, Midway, Wake and Guam. The pilot, Edwin C Musick, was forced to fly under the still-under-construction Bay Bridge. The three M-130s were replaced a few years later by Boeing B-314s.

Tonight we went to the Taco Bell at the beach to eat dinner and watch the crab boats.

Firehouse #25 -- November 3, 2009

Engine Company One on Pacific Avenue was built in 1908. The city sold it in 1958. It is difficult to photograph because of the big tree and the way it faces north.

Norton Buffalo died. I love the Christmas Jug Band.

The Bay Bridge reopened this morning.

Bridge Closed Again -- October 29, 2009

Tuesday during the evening rush hour, a cable and a big piece of metal fell onto the upper deck of the cantilever section of the Bay Bridge. Thank heaven no one got killed. It turned out that the patch that had been applied to the crack discovered during the Labor Day shutdown had failed. Caltrans said it had failed because of the high wind. That is scary. They closed the bridge and refused to say when it might reopen.

Yesterday I took a walk up Rincon Hill on Bryant to see the freeway entrance. The officers were stopping cars and only letting the ones going to Treasure Island proceed. I stopped at the deli to get a banana and a Diet Coke. The clerk said it was very quiet with the bridge closed.

Today I took a walk out Brannan Street, then up the steps to Bryant. Still quiet. The homeless guy at Folsom and Hawthorne said that yesterday business was dead, like a ghost town, and it wasn't much better today. He was hoping the bridge would reopen tomorrow.

Apparently the patch has been put back with more done to strengthen it and keep it in place, but Caltrans says the bridge won't reopen for tomorrow's rush hour. BART has seen a big jump in ridership.

It was very cold both mornings.

Western Railway Museum -- October 17, 2009

Today we visited the Western Railway Museum at Rio Vista Junction (http://www.wrm.org/), which was having its annual pumpkin patch fund raiser. There were lots of happy families. I took the photo of Key System bridge unit 187, which we rode out to the pumpkin patch. The other bridge unit was also running. It was not too warm and the traffic was moderate.


I got to drive the S-curve on the Bay Bridge for the first time. I can see where it would cause problems for people who drive too fast and don't pay attention.

Today it is twenty years since the Loma Prieta earthquake. If I hadn't stayed late to try to solve a bug in a program I was writing, I would have been standing on the BART platform when the lights went out and plunged it into Stygian darkness.

The Bridge is Back -- September 8, 2009

Yesterday CalTrans announced that the bridge would not reopen until 5am Wednesday, but this morning they said they hoped to have it open by 7am today. Nice working repairing the eye beam.

I took the photo at First and Harrison on Friday. It shows the closed onramp. There is a lurking Highway Patrol car barely visible behind the right-hand 80 sign.

Happy Labor Day #2 -- September 7, 2009

Andrew Furuseth, born in Norway, was an early member of the union that became the Sailors' Union of the Pacific. He was head of the union from 1891 to 1935, and during that time he pushed for laws to improve conditions for sailors, including the banning of corporal punishment. The monument was erected on the Embarcadero in 1941, but was moved to the front of the SUP headquarters on Rincon Hill to make way for the Embarcadero Freeway. On the front of the monument is a famous quote from Furuseth: "You can put me in jail. But you cannot give me narrower quarters than as a seaman I have always had. You cannot give me coarser food than I have always eaten. You cannot make me lonelier than I have always been."

I took the photo on 04-September-2009.
The Bay Bridge work has been complicated by the discovery of a crack in the cantilever section. News stories kept referring to an "I-beam," but they meant an "eye bar."

Ardenwood Farm Railroad Fair Coming Soon - September 4, 2009

If you are looking for something to do this Labor Day weekend, I can recommend the Ninth Annual Washington Township Railroad Fair at Ardenwood Historic Farm Regional Park in Fremont. Every year, the Society for the Preservation of Carter Railroad Resources brings in a steam locomotive to join their regular horse-drawn rail operation. There are rides on steam- and horse-drawn trains and handcars. There is a large garden railroad display, and all the regular animals and farm equipment and the beautiful Patterson house. This year's guest locomotive is Sandstone Crag Loop Line #4, "Deanna," an 0-4-2T built by Baldwin in 1891 for the Kaiwiki Sugar Co. in Ookala, Hawaii.

It's well worth a visit, and it's just across the Dumbarton Bridge, which should not be too badly affected by the Bay Bridge closure.
I took this photo of Sandstone Crag Loop Line #4 on Labor Day weekend, 2008.
Today I took a walk to look at the closed freeway entrances leading to the Bay Bridge. This is the first time the bridge has been closed on a workday since 1989.

Firehouse #6 -- April 9, 2008

Company 35 at Pier 22 1/2, Embarcadero and Harrison, is the home of the San Francisco Fire Department's two fireboats, Phoenix and Guardian. The station was built in 1915. Phoenix helped to save the Marina District from a huge fire after the 17-October-1989 earthquake. Two people who lived in the District donated money so San Francisco could acquire Guardian, a former Vancouver fireboat.

In other news, the Giants won their second game yesterday.

A lot of people worked from home today because the Olympic torch run was expected to draw big protests. Lots of people for and against China's policies gathered by Pac Bell Park and along the Embarcadero and had some scuffles. I was out about 12:20 and saw 15-20 motorcycle cops head north on Third.

The mayor deked both sides by having the first runner duck into Pier 48. Eventually a convoy rolled out and wound up at Van Ness and Pine. The runners ran from there and out to the Marina. He cancelled the ceremony at the Ferry Building.