Gene Pedrotti, Chairman of the Celebration Committee
with Bart Ney, CalTrans

CHAIRPERSON'S WELCOME

Gene Pedrotti

When making a quick trip to the Crockett Post Office or our local branch of Bank-of-the-West, one cannot miss them, you literally stand in their shadows. And from any other point in town, the waterfront, in Old Valona, or from almost any Crockett hillside, you see them standing majestically on the water, holding court on the Carquinez Straits. They are the twin spans of the Carquinez Bridges, and the new Al Zampa Memorial Bridge.

Proposed to ease congestion in the North Bay and replace the seismically weaker 1927 span, the new bridge is named after famed ironworker and area resident, Al Zampa, who worked on all bridges in the San Francisco Bay, as well as across the nation. He met his nemesis while working on the Golden Gate Bridge; it came in the omnipresent hazard of wet iron and a long step. Al slipped when crossing iron stringers; he fell into the safety of netting, but the nets sagged and he hit the land below, breaking four vertebrae in is back. Two years in a brace couldn't keep him from his love of iron. He recovered and returned to work, and finished his career as an ironworker. Al, the AceZampa, the best in the business.

The construction of the Al Zampa Memorial Bridge is amazing to witness. A suspension span, it features methods similar to those used in the Golden Gate, yet with modern innovations. New technologies allow for a much stronger and thinner main cable, and the deck is of an entirely new engineering design: built on land in twenty-four sections and raised in place, it is a roadway completed in mere months!

When fully completed, the Al Zampa Memorial Bridge will feature a landscaped park, vista points from both shores, a pedestrian lane which serves as a vital link in the Bay Trail, and spectacular lighting: the towers, the deck, and the necklace will be fully lit at night!

It is my pleasure to introduce the Al Zampa Memorial Bridge Celebration Committee! A grassroots effort lead by the Crockett Chamber of Commerce, it is joined by the Carquinez Bridge Community Advisory Committee, the Vallejo Chamber of Commerce, along with dozens of volunteers representing many North Bay groups and organizations. The goal: Celebrate the opening of the new Al Zampa Memorial Bridge anticipated in Fall 2003.

Imagine a fireworks show on the Bay, unseen since the 50th Anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge in 1987. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans,) has given its blessing and allow us to shoot fireworks off the span for the Grand Opening. Shore to shore, and visible for miles, this is the Bay Area event not to miss!

Other events are on their way as well, thanks to the great work of the Bridge Celebration Committee. If you or your organization would like to join us in this great, grassroots effort, please contact me at grpedrotti@attbi.com.