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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 this interview James (Jim) E. Roberts was Chief of the Division of Structures for Caltrans in Sacramento. When the earthquake occurred, Roberts was at his office in Sacramento and felt the earthquake, and after the shaking stopped he went to the Seismic Analysis Unit and saw the Bay Area damage on television. After seeing the Cypress collapse he realized how serious the situation was and continued at work until late at night. The next day, Roberts with Robert Best, Director of Caltrans and Governor George Deukmejian toured the Cypress Structure, and flew over the Bay Area to survey the damage. In this interview he discusses why some of the decisions were made by Structures Division when it came to the Cypress Structure, San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, Struve Slough, and Highway 17. When Roberts became Chief of the Division of Structures he increased efforts to seismically retrofit bridges, and due to lack of funding was to tie bridge hinges together with high-strength steel cables. He credits these efforts in reducing some of the damage done on the Cypress Structure.He also discusses the retrofit efforts that were done on San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and the retrofit program in general. Due to his efforts he was recognized and named to the National Academy of Engineers for work in "the development and implementation of innovative bridge retrofit concepts and criteria under seismic conditions" in 1996.
Type
sound
Format
Original Stereo Audio cassette
Form/Genre
Oral histories
Extent
2 Tapes of 2
Identifier
casadt_000235_t01; casadt_000235_t02
Language
English
Subject
Loma Prieta Earthquake, Calif., 1989 California. Department of Transportation
Place
San Francisco Bay Area (Calif.)
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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