Construction Photographs of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, 1931-1936
Collection context
Summary
- Extent:
- ca. 3,467 photographic prints; black and white; 9 x 14 cm. 1161 digital objects
- Language:
- English
Background
- Scope and content:
-
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge construction photographs were taken between 1931 and 1936. The photographers are unknown. The photographs show all stages of construction of the bridge, its components, and the on and off ramps. All facets of construction are featured including excavation, piers, caisson fenders, viaducts, approaches, tunnels, portals, anchorages, towers, derricks, catwalks, cables, trusses, spans, expansion grids, upper and lower decks, cantilever, airplane beacon, toll plaza, underpasses, dredging and borings, and equipment used. Photographs of workers are scant.
The collection is arranged by "contract" numbers, which appear to be the photographer's numbering system. Each contract is treated as a series and given a consecutive call number within the range 1905.14235-14250. The photographs in each series are arranged chronologically.
Most photographs are captioned, and include dates and the photographer's numbers. However, since many of the photographs and captions are very similar, the captions are not listed in their entirety in the container listing. Instead, keywords are used to describe an entire series or groups of photographs within a series.
Access and use
- Location of this collection:
-
University of California, Berkeley, The Bancroft LibraryBerkeley, CA 94720-6000, US
- Contact:
- 510-642-6481