2027 WESTPEX THEME
SPANNING THE BAY AND CONNECTING PEOPLE:
SAN FRANCISCO BAY BRIDGES
By Michael S. Turrini
On May 21, 1927, a Saturday, two important events occurred, the famous was the ‘Spirt of Saint Louis’ landing at LeBourget, outside of Paris, France and six thousand miles to the west the span to cross a small section the San Franciso Bay, the Carquinez Strait, opened a three lane cantilever riveted bridge, the grand-daddy of all San Francisco Bay Bridges, the 1927 Carquinez Bridge.
Over the next ten decades, seven other spans would be constructed and opened, built over the rough waters and currents and overcoming various changing weather conditions, achieving engineering marvels and igniting growth — and the traffic well known to Bay Area divers — throughout the greater San Francisco Bay region.
What began as a private venture with the Carquinez Bridge in 1927 and later with two other spans became a significant component of California’s state highways and the national Interstate Highway System.
The roster of these eight Bridges is:
1927 (original) Carquinez Bridge, later demolished in 2007
1927 (original) Dumbarton Bridge, later replaced but first carrying vehicular traffic
1926 (original) Antioch Bridge, later replaced, but only crossed the Sacramento River
1929 (original) San Mateo-Hayward, later replaced
1936 San Francisco-Oakland Bridge, eastern segment later replaced
1937 Golden Gate Bridge, the grandest
1957 Richmond-San Rafael Bridge ended the ferry service of twenty-minute crossings
1962 Benicia-Martinez Bridge, last to end ferry service
Approximately 750,000 vehicles cross these bridges every twenty-four hours. Each has its own stories, from the Golden Gate, featured in Hollywood films, including one with a giant octopus attacking its two towers, to the Antioch, where circus lions escaped and ran loose, with one lion reportedly jumping to its drowning, to the last yellow Key System interurbans, which terminated in 1958 on the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge, to a commemorative half dollar for its opening, to a claim that one bridge once was the longest bridge in the world, plus countless stories over the last hundred years. Also, the exciting experience of walking the Golden Gate Bridge!
Replacing the remembered walking-beam ferries was the first change witnessed by Bay Area residents; yet, the real and enduring change — occurring over the ten past decades and exploding during the post-Second World War decades — was the growth and expansion across and around the entire Bay Area: Marin County, East Bay communities, along the I-80 corridors, the Peninsula, and the South Bay — and its heart, the innovating Silicon Valley.
Traffic remains. Tolls increase. Painting continues — regardless of talk about adding or replacing those approaching a century — for these eight marvels bring together and connect all Bay Area residents, whether to hear a local symphony, attend championship sports, participate in another protest rally or march, or simply walk through the Marin Headlands. Bridges connect the entire Bay Area.
Bridges did more than spark the Bay Area’s fantastic growth over the past hundred years: these spanning marvels created a new kind of person: the Bay Area resident, who is highly idealistic, passionate, involved, and creative, certainly not anticipated in 1927 but as great as ‘The Spirit of St. Louis’ landing at Le Bourget Airport.
