This one. All the way up to the central anchorage of the suspension span…
When (or if) they build a pedestrian / cyclist path on this part of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge (the way they’re doing on the span that will go from Treasure Island to Oakland), people will finally experience, first hand, how hilly a bridge can be.
Click to expand
The California and Hawaii Sugar Refinery in Crockett, CA is used to be the largest in the world [see comments], so we all ought to tip our hats when speeding over the Carquinez Strait to enter and leave the San Francisco Bay Area.
Respect The Cane, baby, or otherwise we’ll end up with only yucky beet sugar (perhaps the MythBusters could do a test?) instead of the Seven Varieties we enjoy today.
As seen with the Carquinez Bridge (the 2003 Alfred Zampa suspension span plus the 1958 “23+0015R” cantilever span) inbetwixt. When all the lights are working, you can see ”C and H PURE CANE SUGAR.”
Click to expand
Do you remember the C&H song?* That ditty went a little something like this:
C and H, pure cane sugar, from Hawaii, grown in the Sun
When you cook, when you bake, for goodness sake, C and H
C and H pure cane sugar, that’s the one
(If you ever espy the Moku Pahu bulk freighter carrying all that semi-processed cane from the 808 state, be sure to hum the tune.)
The C&H refinery used to employ hundreds, keeping 46(!) bars humming in the tiny town of Crockett. But these days the place runs at half-speed.
*The authentic, Burl Ives version of the famous C and H jingle:
Pearly shells from the ocean
Shining in the sun
Covering the shore
When I see them
My heart tells me that I love you
More than all the little pearly shells
For ev’ry grain of sand upon the beach
I’ve got a kiss for you
And I’ve got more left over
For each star that twinkles in the blue
Pearly shells
Shining in the sun
Covering the shore
When I see them
My heart tells me that I love you
More than all the little pearly shells
Pupu a o Ewa
I ka nuku
E lawe mai
Ahe aina
Mai no
Ala hula puuloa he ala hele no kaahupahau
I apau huna one i ka kahakai
Ua honi nau
Ho’i koe lawa na
Pakahi hoku ‘i ka lani
Puhau
Ala hula puuloahe ala hele no kaahupahau
Yesterday saw the debut of a brand-new 12-foot-wide path for pedestrians and bike riders on one of the spans of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge a way out there in the extreme East Bay. That means that you can now easily travel from the former home-town of the Zodiac Killer to the beaver-ridden shores of Martinez, CA without using your car.
Take a look at the circuit you can now make on your bike way out in the 925. Just use the Carquinez Bridge (cost overrun = $47,000,000 in 2003) one way and the B-M Bridge (cost overrun = $1,000,000,000 in 2007 mas o menos, due, in part, to the alleged suicidal tendencies of bay area fish, srsly) the other and you’re looping, baby.
Hurray!
Pedestrian/Bicycle Path Debuts on Benicia-Martinez Bridge
New Path Closes Gap in Bay Area Trail System
Festivities were held today to mark the official opening of a new pedestrian/bicycle path on the George Miller, Jr. Memorial Bridge leading from Benicia to Martinez. The Metropolitan Transportation Commission (MTC), Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) and Caltrans hosted opening events at both ends of the bridge, with a ribbon-cutting in Martinez at the foot of the bridge kicking off the festivities. Attendees then joined in the official first walk/ride across the bridge, where an opening ceremony followed at Vista Point in Benicia. A bicycle rodeo geared to youths at the nearby Amports lot was offered by the City of Benicia.
“The opening of the pedestrian/bicycle path is an exciting milestone that signifies completion of the final improvements to both spans of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge,” explained Bijan Sartipi, Director of Caltrans District 4 and an MTC/BATA Commissioner. “We are thrilled that we now have safe and efficient travel across the Carquinez Strait for drivers, bicyclists and pedestrians.”
The Benicia-Martinez Bridge connects Contra Costa and Solano counties across the Carquinez Strait. It is comprised of two separate spans, named for father and son (the late Senator George Miller, Jr. and current Congressman George Miller III), making the bridge a unique landmark. The 2007 addition, the Congressman George Miller III Memorial Bridge, carries five lanes of northbound Interstate 680 traffic from Martinez to Benicia and includes the Bay Area’s debut of open-road tolling technology. The original George Miller, Jr. Memorial Bridge, built in 1962 to carry traffic in both directions, now carries four lanes of southbound Interstate 680 traffic with full shoulders and the new pedestrian/bicycle path.
“This is a milestone project that has been in the works a long time and we are all very excited to see its completion,” said Laura Thompson, Bay Trails project manager for the Association of Bay Area Governments. “We are happy that we are making strides to close both the Bay and Ridge Trail gaps.”
Funded primarily through the Regional Measure 1 toll program approved by voters in 1988 and administered by BATA, the $50 million Benicia-Martinez Bridge project encompassed reconfiguring the bridge and adding the new path. The completion of the construction on the pedestrian/bicycle path indicates the final phase of construction on both bridges.
Caltrans owns, operates and maintains the state highway system, including seven of the eight Bay Area toll bridges. BATA, which is directed by the same policy board as MTC, administers toll revenues from the region’s state-owned toll bridges. MTC is the transportation planning, financing and coordinating agency for the nine-county San Francisco Bay Area.
FACT SHEET
GEORGE MILLER, JR. BRIDGE PEDESTRIAN/BICYCLE LANE
Significance The new Benicia-Martinez pedestrian/bicycle lane on
the Senator George Miller, Jr. Memorial Bridge will
close a gap in the San Francisco Bay and Ridge Trails.
This lane also serves as a link in the Carquinez
Strait Scenic Loop Trail, which is a 50-mile trail
that crosses both the Benicia-Martinez Bridge and Al
Zampa Bridge spans over the Carquinez Strait.
Bicyclists and pedestrians using this new path will be
treated to stunning views of the Suisun Bay, as well
as the Carquinez Bridge and the Mothball Fleet.
Official Name George Miller, Jr. Memorial Bridge
Original Structure
Opened September 16, 1962
Location Carquinez Strait linking Contra Costa and Solano
counties
Roadway Southbound Interstate 680 from Benicia to Martinez
Configuration Originally, three northbound lanes and three
southbound lanes; now four southbound lanes and one
pedestrian/bicycle lane
Length of
Pedestrian/Bicycle
Path 11,800 feet or 2.2. miles
Width of
Pedestrian/Bicycle
Path 12 feet; bi-directional travel
Vertical Clearance
of the Bridge 138 feet
Type of
Construction Deck truss
Project Cost $50 million to seismically retrofit the bridge and add
the pedestrian/bicycle path
Construction
Funding Regional Measure 1 funds: 77%
Federal funds: 21%
State funds: 2%
Seismic Safety A “Lifeline” structure designed to remain in service
following a maximum credible earthquake. The
Interstate 680 corridor has been designated as a
primary route for transporting emergency supplies into
the Bay Area after a major earthquake.
Of course it’s only been two decades since the Loma Prieta earthquake damaged the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge, so it’s only natural that we’re still working on it. Let’s check out progress on California’s Bridge to Nowhere So Far.
That’s Treasure Island you can see ‘neath the Bay Bridge’s northern cable, and there’s Azkaban in the background. Click to expand:
But guess what - a “15.5-foot-wide bicycle and pedestrian path will run along the eastbound deck of the 2-mile long structure.”
Can you see the white bicycle and pedestrian path there on the near side of the new eastern span? They even have balconies. Check it:
Man, that’s going to be awesome. What’s the speed limit going to be for those going downhill?
Try to imagine it filled up with cars though, as that’s how it’s going to be, 24-7. Think back to the old days when traffic was so light you could pull over and conversate, at least that’s the way it was according to this segment of Shadow of the Thin Man from 1941 (at about minute 8:30 or so). (And all the trains were underneath on the lower deck, but that’s another story.)
(One time, I managed to change a tire (illegally?) on the upper deck of the suspension span, but that’s another story. A scary story)
But hey, what about a bike path on the western span? Well, that’s still pie in the sky these days. Maybe in a couple MORE decades…
Required reading:
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge East Span Seismic Safety Project : pedestrian & bicycle study.
/ California. Department of Transportation. Oakland, CA : Caltrans, 1998.
TG25 .S33,C275 1998 no.10
Feasibility report : San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge West Span : bicycle / pedestrian / maintenance path planning and feasibility study
/ prepared by CH2M Hill in association with SC Solutions. Oakland, CA : Caltrans, 2001.
TG25 .S335 C27 2001r Oversize New Book Shelf.
And There You Have It.
See you there!
The whole Cosco Busan deal is hotting up these days. Check out the federal charges against Captain John Cota posted by KPIX here.
Here’s the rant part. The Busan hit the Delta Tower of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. It didn’t hit the “Delta Span”, despite numerous accounts reporting it that way. A “span” is the more or less horizontal part of a bridge where you might see cars zipping by. A tower is the up and down part that helps support the spans.
Yet, we still hear about the span, even from the official federal paperwork:
“The M/V Cosco Busan departed the Port of Oakland in heavy fog and struck the Delta span of the San Francisco Bay Bridge…”
It’s very possible that Cota mistakenly reported to authorities that the ship “touched” the Delta Span. He was under a lot of pressure. The point is that whether you’re trying a case in real life or just in the press, it’s nice to get these small details correct. If half of the reports of what Cota said over the radio are incorrect, what other reported details are incorrect?
Lastly, take a look at today’s headline, below. It’s very possible that Cota could be found to have some or most of the responsibility for the oil spill, and yet not serve any time behind bars. So he might not be heading for “the brig” after all
Only time will tell.
