The Oakland - San Francisco Bay Bridge
The opening of the San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge in
1936, and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1937, forever changed
the local economy and transportation habits of the Bay Area,
allowing easier travel and access to new places for work
and recreation.The Bay Bridge is really two bridges, one an eastern span between Yerba Buena Island and Oakland, the other a western span between between the Island and San Francisco. The pier you are standing on is built on pilings that once supported the original eastern span.
The 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake caused a portion of the upper eastern span deck to fail, providing a wake-up call: if a 6.9 earthquake centered sixty miles away could cause such damage, imagine what the largest earthquake predicted possible on the Hayward Fault, a 7.3 magnitude, centered only six miles away could do! There were many years planning a new, seismically secure suspension bridge for the eastern span. Built between 2002 and 2013, it cost around $6.5 billion-many times more than the $250 million originally estimated. Now over 100 million vehicles per year cross over this iconic landmark.
Erected 2020 by East Bay Regional Park District.
Topics. This historical marker is listed in this topic list: Bridges & Viaducts. A significant historical year for this entry is 1936.
Location.
this page online
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Crossing the San Francisco Bay (within shouting distance of this marker); Observation Pier (about 600 feet away, measured in a direct line); Rear Admiral R.J. "Bear" Arnold, U.S.N. (approx. 1.1 miles away); USS Oakland Mast (approx. 1.1 miles away); USS Oakland CL-AA 95 (approx. 1.2 miles away); John "Alex" Alexander (approx. 1.3 miles away); Training Wall (approx. 1.4 miles away); Western Pacific Mole (approx. 1.4 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Oakland.
More about this marker. The marker is located on the bridge-side of the observation pier, about 2/3 of the way out along the pier, in Judge John Sutter Regional Shoreline Park.
Also see . . . San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge (Wikipedia). "The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries about 260,000 vehicles a day on its two decks. It has one of the longest spans in the United States." (Submitted on November 12, 2020.)
Credits. This page was last revised on November 12, 2020. It was originally submitted on November 12, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California. This page has been viewed 340 times since then and 82 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on November 12, 2020, by Andrew Ruppenstein of Lamorinda, California.
