HistoryBubbles
Reconstruction and Infrastructure of the Bay
1 Comment
The aftermath of the Earthquake triggers the creation of new pathways across the Bay.
As I was doing research I was trying to look how the infrastructure, buildings, roads have chaged over time. The earthquake definitely changed the perspective and method of building.
The San Francisco 1906 earthquake was a major earthquake that hit San Francisco and Northern California’s coast; with a magnitude of 7.9 this earthquake was felt from Oregon to Los Angeles and as deep as to Las Vegas. The earthquake and resulting fire are remembered as one of the worst natural disasters in the history of the United States. It has been estimated that up to 90% of the total destruction was the result of the subsequent fires. This disaster was debastating for the metropilis city that had reputation for its growing population.
It’s also very important to know how the West metropolis recovered from the phenomenon.
Lottas Fountain
After this event the city of San Francisco and the Bay Area started a reconstruction plan proposed by a popular architect Daniel Burnham who had an specific idea for the city before the earthquake but after the disaster much of his plans were drastically changed. Another thing that concerned San Francisco was transportation issues since most of its infrastructure had been completely destroyed by the earthquake. Connections with Oakland were quite important to be able to get help to thousands of people in San Francisco. The reconstruction period was effective from 1906 to 1930 leaving the city of san Francisco its uniqueness with roads and bridges that will benefit the community as a whole. San Francisco quicly rebuild itself, building codes were eventually strengthened. The city regained its vigor and kept its position as principal city of the West
During the business and economic boom of the 1920’s in San Francisco and Bay Area a wave of high buildings more than twenty stories tall challenge the low-rise profile of the metropolis. Nonetheless, these modern towers generally fit snugly into “a city that was architecturally very cohesive, and, inn a sense the fullest flowering of that great age of city building”(Heritage, 1979, 23)
Development of SF
Refugees, victims and survivors from the 1906 San Francisco earthquake and fire found the suburbs such as San Mateo, a place where they could start from zero, since most of their homes were destroyed.
San Mateo, Spanish for Saint-Mathews named by a Spanish expedition in 1776; had a remarkable increase in population due to the large amount of refugees. Quickly, San Mateo became an fluent city along the Bay Area; most of its business were created and managed by survivors of the 1906 earthquake. The growing population in such area needed reliable infrastructure connecting to the east side of the Bay.Furthermore, Hayward, an important industrial city including wire, plastics, metal and paper factories, textiles, machinery, and motor vehicles; and that was also distribution center for farm products was a commercial city that was surly going to contribute to the development of the Bay. A link between these two cities was vital for the reconstruction of San Francisco and the development the Bay Area.
To Be Continued…
San Mateo/Hayward Bridge
2 Comments
-
- Traffic on Highway 92
As soon as i arrived to the Bay Area i noticed the group of bridges across San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. Sometimes we forget the importance and don’t recognize the history of all these bridges that are now used by thousands of commuters daily. The Golden Gate is the most photographed bridge in the world and what it means is a total landmark of engineering, architectural and design achievments in history of Bay Area. But also there are more bridges like Bay, Dumbarton, San Rafael. But unlike them the San Mateo Bridge is the longest. This is the reason why i was attracted to it and wanted to learn more about.
According to online sources the San Mateo/Hayward bridge was built in 1929, is the longest bridge in the San Francisco Bay Area and the 25th longest in the world by length. Crossing California’s San Francisco Bay, linking the The San Francisco peninsula with the East Bay. More specifically, eastern end of the bridge is in Hayward and the western end is in Foster City, recent urban addition to the eastern edge of San Mateo.
Before the appearance of the Spanish “padres” and the founding of Mission San Jose, the Hayward area was occupied by the Costanoan Indians for some 3,000 years. They lived in cone-shaped straw and mud huts, coming down from the hills to the bay to gather shellfish and hunt sea lions for their diet. This is very interesting and sad because as we discussed in class all the water resources in the bay were contaminated by human waste, therefore, the shellfish and sea lions that they used to consumed are now rejected due to the high level of toxicity in them.
While most Californios struggled with the validity of their lands; In 1843, Mexican Governor Michaeltoreño rewarded Guillermo Castro for his past military and civil service by granting him “El Rancho San Lorenzo” – 27,000 acres of flatlands, hills and canyons now known as Hayward and Castro Valley. In 1851, during the time of the Gold Rush, William Hayward made his way to “El Rancho San Lorenzo,” The following year he bought 40 acres of land what is now Downtown Hayward. Then he established and opened general trading store which soon prospered into a stagecoach stop, a post office, a hostelry and a dairy farm. Many people referred to the town as “Hayward’s Place” or “Hayward’s” because of the famous Hayward Hotel. In September 18, 1928, the name of the community was officially changed to the “City of Hayward.”
In 1850, Hayward’s convenient ship access to San Francisco Bay and the Pacific brought freighter industry to Hayward. Hayward was also the stagecoach stop between Oakland and San Jose. Population in Bay Area was always rising due to its important and key location on the center on the east bay, therefore, the need of a commute road that will connect east bay with the San Francisco peninsula.
In 1929 the bridge was completed, it was the longest bridge upon construction. The bridge was two-lane, low-level structure, 35 feet in elevation. Trestle and truss spans were combined in building the bridge and a vertical lift section was added to allow ship traffic to pass through the structure. By the late 1950’s, traffic had increased remarkably, creating congestion; traffic was brought to a standstill an average of six times a day. Therefore, the reinforcing steel on the bridge’s superstructure had suffered extensive corrosion, making continuous repairs necessary. These factors made a replacement bridge a necessity.
By 1961, an innovative concept of an orthotropic bridge was approved by the Toll Bridge Authority. Orthotropic means means that the structure has various stiffness properties at 90 degree directions. This innovation allows traffic to drive on the bridge structure itself, foregoing the need to pour a concrete deck. The Highrise portion is a structure that is elevated at the channel span to a height of 135 feet allowing ships to easily pass below in a dredged channel
I believe the San Mateo bridge is very important for the community as today and i’m sure in the past as well. The route was quite convenient for people in the past and today many people use it to avoid constant traffic in Bay Bridge which is the other bridge linking east bay with peninsula
HistoryBubbles 