Anniversaries: A Modest Bridge Party

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Its name, the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, hardly evokes the poetic resonance of the Golden Gate Bridge, its famous sister across the water to the west. And even though the Bay Bridge is six months older and, at 8 1/4 miles, almost four times as long as its glamorous relative, the span received only small change to celebrate its 50th birthday: $70,000, vs. a projected $6 million to be lavished on the Golden Gate next May. Still, the connection between the San Francisco peninsula and the East Bay, crossed by 250,000 autos a day, helped transform once distant rural areas into bustling commuter suburbs. In 1985 the San Francisco Bay area, with 5.8 million residents, became the nation's fourth largest metropolitan region.

Last week San Francisco and Oakland commemorated the bridge's half-century with a modest parade and reminiscences of the rise of the world's longest steel high-level span. Said John Kergel, 79, who worked on the project that took three years and 29 lives: "It was the Depression, guys would do anything for a job. We took a lot of chances. But it paid off." As for comparisons between the gray lady and her golden sister, one official said, "They're both beautiful bridges. What's important is that during the Great Depression people had the vision and gumption to build them."