Tidal Canal

Tidal Canal. . Originally known as San Antonio Creek – a shallow, marsh-fringed inlet that ended near present-day Coast Guard Island – the Oakland Estuary was transformed into a working harbor under the direction of the Army Corps of Engineers. The harbor plan, devised in 1873, included a narrow, 1.5-mile-long “Tidal Canal” cut through the neck of the Alameda peninsula, funneling tidal waters from San Leandro Bay to scour the Estuary shipping channels. Excavation of the Tidal Canal proceeded in two phases, in 1889-1892 and 1901-1903, as funding became available. The opening of the canal, which transformed Alameda into an island, was feted by parades, fireworks, and boat processions during the three-day Alameda Water Carnival, in September 1902., Inset Image: , Steam shovel of the San Francisco Bridge Company cutting through the neck of the Alameda peninsula during the first phase of excavation of the Tidal Canal, 1889. The view looks east to rural East Oakland from the vicinity of present-day Fruitvale Avenue., Drawbridges spanning navigable waterways have moveable sections allowing vessels to pass, and iron-truss “swing” bridges were integral to the design and construction of the Tidal Canal. The first three bridges opened at Park Street (1891), High Street (1900), and Fruitvale Avenue (1901). The bridges at Park Street and High Street were replaced in 1935 and 1939 by similar steel bascule bridges, while the original Fruitvale Avenue Bridge, with parallel sections for a roadway and railroad tracks, was replaced by a vertical-lift railroad bridge (1951) and a bascule highway bridge (1973). These four spans comprise the largest group of drawbridges in the state of California., Inset Image: , Spanned by the recently completed Fruitvale Bridge, the Tidal Canal nears completion in this 1901 view. Both photos courtesy Bay Area Electric Railroad Association., The Oakland and Alameda shorelines of the Tidal Canal developed with industrial and residential uses. The principal industrial plants on the Oakland shore are the 1921 grain elevators of the Western Milling Company (now ConAgra) near the Park Street Bridge, and the 1937 Owens-Illinois glass factory at Fruitvale Avenue. The houses and docks stretching along the Alameda shore between the Fruitvale Avenue and High Street bridges form part of a 1938 subdivision, and new condominiums now line the Oakland shore east of the Park Street Bridge., For more information on the history of Oakland’s waterfront, visit the Oakland Library’s History Room and the Oakland Museum of California.