Op-Ed: ‘If the Bridge is Structurally Sound, Save It!'

I do love the Main Street Bridge. It’s not especially pretty. It is a bit on the old side. So old that it could be listed as an historic landmark. It is sad that there are plans afoot to demolish it. Replace it with a modern, wider, slicker bridge that meets today’s Federal Highway Standards.

Why would the City of Half Moon Bay consider tearing it down? Consultants have said that it is old and has cracks and could be hurt in case of a tsunami, dam break, or big earthquake. And that millions of federal dollars are available to pay for a replacement bridge.

I like the bridge because it is so much a part of the still preserved, old-fashioned way of downtown HMB. It is a part of all that appealed to many of us when we came to the Coastside. Our bridge is one of so few historic icons of the town.

Independent bridge experts — structural engineers — tell us that our bridge is a “good candidate for repair or rehabilitation.” The only way to know if it can be repaired is to do a series of tests and studies. The tests are relatively inexpensive. We think such tests should be done — by independent experts who are not attached to the replacement idea — before any decision to replace the bridge is made.

Back in the day — the late 1800s — our tiny town was led in so many ways by its business and farming leaders. All volunteers — helping to create the future. Those volunteers brought to our town fire department, a water system, a sewage system, electricity and telephones. They appointed constables. Their government, the Board of Supervisors, was in Redwood City.

 Thanks to one Supervisor, the bridge started its life well over 100 years ago (1900, to be exact). The design was simple — but had one very innovative feature: It was one of the very first bridges to use reinforced concrete. That is, steel was used within the concrete to give it even more strength than the inherently strong arch design. Remarkably, the steel they used was surplus cables from San Francisco’s California Street Cable Car System. Our bridge ties together old Half Moon Bay and old San Francisco.

The State of California has performed inspections of the bridge since before World War II. But from then until today, they consistently judged the structure of the bridge to be serviceably sound. Sure it shows cracks, pockets, rust here and there. Since those early years they summed up (like this, in 1947) with, “None of these defects are regarded as serious at this time.” In the most recent year (2011), they rated the structure (arch, abutments and railings) their strong “Health Index” of 89.4.

Now the venerable bridge is a target for replacement. The main reason for our low overall sufficiency rating is that the bridge is too narrow… Just like the rest of Main Street — below current Federal Highway Standards.

The outside engineers say to DO TESTS of the bridge FIRST. Then we will know if the bridge is still structurally sound or not! If the bridge is sound, save it!

The Half Moon Bay Main Street Bridge: Built 1900. Scheduled for destruction 2014.

Dave Cresson is the president of the Half Moon Bay History Association. He is also part of the Downtown Merchants group who want to see the Main Street Bridge repaired rather than completely replaced.

Read more on Patch:

To Repair or to Replace the Main Street Bridge?

Plein Air Painters Put the Main Street Bridge in Paint

Plein Air Painters Put the Main Street Bridge in Paint

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