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Rights Holder and Contact
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Date of Copyright
[1989-10-30,1989-12-18]
Description
In the wake of the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Caltrans commissioned an oral history project to document the personal and professional experiences of Caltrans employees who worked to restore the State's damaged transportation system. At the time of the earthquake, Jerry Hauke was a Senior Transportation Engineer in Maintenance Division for Caltrans. Later, during the recovery of the California’s Transportation system, he was promoted to Supervising Transportation Engineer. Mr. Hauke was interviewed twice, once on October 30, 1989 and December 18, 1989. In the first interview, Hauke describes his personal earthquake experience, and he learned of the severity of the Loma Prieta Earthquake by seeing the damage of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Cypress Structure on television. Hauke then drove to the Manzanita Maintenance yard, and after speaking with Bob Jacobs, the Maintenance Deputy for Caltrans District 4, he was told to report to the Caltrans District office at 150 Oak Street. He describes how it was like to drive into San Francisco after the earthquake. Upon arrival at 150 Oak Street, he described how it was like working without electricity and no building ventilation and having to fix these problems. His primary responsibility was to assist in logging the damage reports and establishing an emergency command center for the District 4 Maintenance Department. In the second interview, Hauke mentions how important it was for Maintenance to manage the press. He also mentions how useful Director’s orders were in procuring emergency contracts. Hauke also sent Jim Claypool, up to the Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento to act as a representative for District 4. He was also appreciative of earthquake exercises he did before the earthquake, so that he knew who to contact for this disaster. Another helpful addition was the donation of cellular phones to Caltrans to make communication easier. Hauke mentions how some of the Cypress Structure did not go home to weeks and how hard it was on the works. He also described some of the damage that was sustained on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and Highway 17. Hauke describes the use of different contractors and the relationship between contractors and Caltrans during the time after the earthquake. Hauke also described the need for timber to shore damaged structures and how Caltrans ordered it. He also ordered I-beams and H-beams from Texas and how they were escorted by state police to get to California. California Audiovisual Preservation Project
Type
sound
Format
Original Audio cassette
Form/Genre
Oral histories
Extent
2 Tapes of 2
Identifier
casadt_000117_t01; casadt_000117_t02
Language
English
Subject
Earthquakes--California--Loma Prieta Loma Prieta Earthquake, Calif., 1989
Provenance
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
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