Bay Farm Island Bridge

Bay Farm Island Bridge
Aerial view of both bridges (2009)
Coordinates	37°44′56″N 122°14′11″W / 37.748924°N 122.236383°W / 37.748924; -122.236383Coordinates: 37°44′56″N 122°14′11″W / 37.748924°N 122.236383°W / 37.748924; -122.236383
Carries	cars and trucks on SR 61
Crosses	San Leandro Channel, leading to San Leandro Bay
Locale	San Francisco Bay Area
Official name	San Leandro Bay Bridge
NBI	33 0086
Characteristics
Design	Bascule truss
Material	steel, concrete
Total length	963 ft 6 in (293.67 m)
Width	70 ft 6 in (21.49 m) overall 26 ft (7.9 m) roadway 5 ft (1.5 m) sidewalk
Longest span	125 ft (38 m) bascule
Clearance below	20 ft (6.1 m) (high tide) 26 ft (7.9 m) (low tide)
History
Constructed by	Duncason-Harleson and Stolte
Construction start	April 18, 1951 (1951-04-18)
Opened	July 1, 1953 (1953-07-01)
Statistics
Daily traffic	40,000
Bay Farm Island Bridge Location in Oakland, California Show map of Oakland, California Bay Farm Island Bridge Location in Oakland, California Show map of San Francisco Bay Area Bay Farm Island Bridge Location in Oakland, California Show map of California

Bay Farm Island Bicycle Bridge
View along bicycle bridge
Carries	bicycles and pedestrians on San Francisco Bay Trail
Official name	San Leandro Bay Bike Bridge
Characteristics
Design	Bascule, pony Warren truss
Material	steel, concrete
Total length	750 ft (230 m)
Width	14 ft (4.3 m) overall 11 ft (3.4 m) curb-to-curb
Longest span	130 feet (40 m) bascule
Clearance below	20 ft (6.1 m) (high tide) 26 ft (7.9 m) (low tide)
History
Construction start	1993
Opened	1995

The San Leandro Bay Bridge, better known as the Bay Farm Island Bridge, is a single-leaf bascule drawbridge spanning the San Leandro Channel, the inlet of San Leandro Bay within the San Francisco Bay Area, California, United States. It carries California State Route 61 and links the main island of Alameda with Bay Farm Island within the city of Alameda. The present bridge was completed in 1953; it is paralleled by a second bridge (completed in 1995) devoted to pedestrian and bicycle traffic, the Bay Farm Island Bicycle Bridge. The draw opens approximately 360 times per year.

The Bay Farm Island Bridge is one of the four bridges and two tunnels linking Alameda Island with the mainland. It is the longest bridge of the four.

A toll bridge at this location was first built in 1854, consisting of a wooden trestle surfaced with crushed oyster shells. The owners abandoned the bridge after a failed business deal for land on Bay Farm Island, and the 1854 bridge subsequently rotted. Alameda County constructed a second bridge in 1875. In 1877 the bridge was described as a drawbridge with an overall length of 700 feet (210 m). The second bridge had been repaired in 1890, and was replaced by a third bridge in 1898. Parts of the third bridge had initially been built in 1881 to span the Oakland Estuary at Webster Street, and were moved to span the San Leandro Channel in 1898; the third bridge was a swing-type bridge. By 1904, it was described as a "creaking old bridge", and by 1912, the bridge had "settled dangerously" and "needed immediate repairs."

In 1899, Mr. Gighilone, a vegetable farmer from Bay Farm Island, was ambushed by customs officers while crossing the bridge. The customs officers believed he was in league with opium smugglers who supposedly had their headquarters on Bay Farm Island; the smugglers purportedly used vegetable peddlers to smuggle opium across the bridge to Alameda, where it would be taken to San Francisco for distribution. When Gighilone was commanded to stop, he thought he was being robbed and attempted to escape until several bullets convinced him to stop.