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Rights Holder and Contact
California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Date of Copyright
1989-12-04
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 Bob Halligan, was the Chief Public Affairs Officer for Caltrans at the District 4 office in San Francisco. When the earthquake happened, Halligan was driving from the office to his home in Marin County and didn’t feel the earthquake. When he arrived at home, his family members were surprised to see him, and informed Halligan that the Bay Bridge and Nimitz Freeway were badly damaged. He tried to call the office from his home but the phones were dead, so he drove to Ignacio Field Office, and contacted the Caldecott Tunnel, where he was informed of more details of the severity of the damage. So he drove back to his house to get some emergency supplies, and he received a phone call to report to the Emergency Command center being set up at the Caltrans office on Oak Street in San Francisco. In the drive back to San Francisco from Marin County he encounter no traffic lights were working due to no electricity and he saw the fires burning in the Marina District. At Oak Street, because of problems with the generator, there was no electricity, at first, set up an office space to take calls. Early on the morning of the eighteenth, a meeting was called all the Branch Chiefs and it was decided that Caltrans would cooperate with the press and public and to have a separate public affairs office at the Cypress Viaduct. It was also decided to have an outreach program for the media who wanted to go to the Bay Bridge to see the damage. In the days and weeks after the earthquake, Halligan worked at the press office answering on average over 1,000 calls per day. He had his employees run media tours at the Bay Bridge and Cypress Viaduct. He also was involved with the planning of the re-opening of the San Francisco Bay Bridge Ceremony, publicizing the Ferry Services and extended BART schedules to the public, and earthquake testing demonstrations for the media. Halligan was also responsible for informing the press that Steve Whipple, a Caltrans engineer, who found Buck Helm a survivor from the collapsed section of the Nimitz Freeway. California Audiovisual Preservation Project
Type
sound
Format
Original Audio cassette
Extent
1 Tape of 1
Identifier
casadt_000113
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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