Remembering Bay Area’s Bridge-Building Bonanza New State Law Requires Union Fee Payment Asian Scholar Reflects On Fifty Years at Berkeley Taking a Global Look at Math Development An Ancient Fish that Went Its Own Way School of Education Lends Expertise to Set up Seattle Career Academies Building a Bridge Over America’s Racial Divide ‘Rice Women’ Dance and Music Piece Faces East Cyber Exhibit Explores Perceptions of Time and Identity Forum to Examine Proposed Community Service Requirements Publications: Management Practices in Dietetics Minor Planet Named After Major Campus Star Open Enrollment for Benefits Staff Air Concerns Over Salaries, Bonuses and Aging Infrastructure in Chat with Chancellor Local Governments Lag in Preparing for “The Big One” Along Hayward Fault   Awards   Campus Calendar   News Briefs

Remembering Bay Area's Bridge-Building Bonanza 2000 Calendar Features Water, Transportation and Tons of Steel By Travis Hodgkins, Public Affairs Posted November 3, 1999 The central portion of the original Carquinez Strait Highway Bridge is lifted into place from the waters of the Carquinez Strait in this 1927 photo. An armada of boats watches the action. The bridge was officially opened to traffic May 21, 1927. A twin, parallel bridge was opened to traffic in 1958. The Bay Area's bridge-building heyday in the early decades of this century takes center stage in a new calendar for 2000 by two university departments. A fund-raising effort by the Harmer E. Davis Transportation Library and the Water Resources Center Archives, "Spanning the Bay: Historic Photographs of San Francisco Bay Bridges" offers twelve black-and-white photos of bridge construction projects. The photos come from the collection of former professor and College of Engineering dean Charles Derleth Jr. The collection features photographs taken during the construction of the Antioch, Carquinez, Golden Gate and San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridges -- each from what Water Resources Center Archives Director Linda Vita describes as "an engineering perspective." According to Vita, Derleth didn't photograph most of the images himself, but worked as a consultant during the building of the bridges and requested copies of all the photographs that were commissioned. The photos instill a sense of the seemingly impossible engineering feats of generations past and the dedication of those who built these bridges. Cost of the calendar is $11, plus tax and $3 shipping and handling. To purchase a calendar, call 642-3558, fax 642-1246, or send an e-mail. The photograph for the month of January, for example, looks down on the Golden Gate's southern tower near the point of completion in 1935. The tower reaches toward the sky at a height of 750 feet above strong tidal action; a circular concrete "fender" near the water protects against waves, sometimes 20 feet in height. The water is at least 100 feet deep, and the nearest land is 1,200 feet away. According to the caption, construction of the south tower was regarded by the bridge's builders as the most difficult part of the project. The two libraries will share proceeds from sale of the calendar to help maintain their respective collections and reinstate services cut during the '90s budget crunch, said Dan Krummes, director of the Transportation Library.   [HOME]   [SEARCH]   [ARCHIVE] November 3 - 9, 1999 (Volume 28, Number 13) Copyright 1999, The Regents of the University of California. Produced and maintained by the Office of Public Affairs at UC Berkeley. Comments? E-mail berkeleyan@pa.urel.berkeley.edu.