The Oakland Bridge

Northern Advocate, 6 January 1937, Page 2

The Oakland Bridge

The world’s most costly bridge, built for 77,000,000 dollars, is now open, linking San Francisco with Oakland and other east Bay cities. On its first day in use the tolls collected amounted to 50,000 dollars. Its length, overall is 114 miles.

Estimated to carry 13,000,000 motorcar passengers and 42,000,000 rarilway passengers annually, the new bridge spans San Francisco Harbour. Owned by the State of California, it was made possible by the Reconstruction Finance Corporation, under the Hoover regime. It spans the longest stretch navigable water ever bridged, 4-| miles.

Isolated at the tip of a peninsula. San Francisco was cut off from i-s logical surburban areas across the Bay. Trains, road vehicles, and individuals alike had to ferry across the water. The ferries were marvels of efficiency, but relatively slow and cumbersome.

According to its designer, the bridge was actually a continuity of projects. It involved elevated highways or viaducts over land; an elevated railway, connecting to the bridge; twin suspension bridges, each with 2310 ft main spans; a tunnel through an island, of larger bore than tunnels heretofore undertaken; a 1400 ft cantilever span, five through ?truss spans, fourteen deck-truss spans, a sand-fill; an interlocking viaduct, to distribute, traffic in three directions, without left-hand turns or right-angle crossings; miscellaneous other viaducts and crossings for automobile traffic.

The limit of speed is 45 miles an hour. There is a penalty for driving too slowly. The structure is lit by hundreds of mercury vapour lights, making automobile headlights unnecessary. The toll i charge is 65 cents (2s 9d) for each passenger. There are six lanes for fast traffic and three for lorries trucks, etc.