John Kergel and the Bay Bridge
Azile Kergel Bennett is an old friend from Berkeley High. She told our reunion group that her father, John Kergel, was an engineer who worked on the Bay Bridge, circa 1936. How cool is that? Using this as a theme, I explored my 200+ images of the bridge to tell a short Bay Bridge story. (Many thanks to Azile for generously sharing her father’s photos.)
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As I sit in this apartment and enjoy a view of the Golden Gate, my heart strings are really pulled by the Bay bridge. The memories of getting on the F train on upper Shaddock and taking across the bridge in the San Francisco, catching a street car and riding out to playland was a joyous and memorable kid adventure, particularly when we did it by ourselves. There are memories too, crossing the bridge with my parents and smelling the coffee from the coffee roaster under the West End, and of course, we should not forget the hump in the middle of the tunnel that reduce the speed is to 20 or 25 miles an hour on that bridge. there is also the book popular in the 50s, Earth abides, which told the story of the East Bay after disastrous pandemic that killed most of the population in the US, and how the surviving few on the East Bay still continued to travel by foot over what was left of the Bay bridge to San Francisco. there is also the recollection of being stationed to board the Coast Guard tender Magnolia at your Wayne Island and becoming familiar with the sea going traffic of the area. It’s a beloved memory, but I must say I am very impressed with the design of the new span. Thanks for your good photos Rick
Wonderful video, Rick! While an amazing feat of engineering (both the original and the new span) and practical part of our Bay Area lives, your images bring a feeling of a symbol of something greater… not to mention the memories that in triggers. A touchstone for so many of us! Thank you!!