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Loma Prieta Oral History of Jerry Hauke
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Title
Loma Prieta Oral History of Jerry Hauke
Alternative Title
Caltrans Earthquake History of Jerry Hauke
Created Date
October 30th, 1989
December 18th, 1989
December 18th, 1989
Description
In the wake of the October 17, 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, Caltrans commissioned an oral history project to document the personal and professional experiences of Caltrans employees who worked to restore the State's damaged transportation system.
At the time of the earthquake, Jerry Hauke was a Senior Transportation Engineer in Maintenance Division for Caltrans. Later, during the recovery of the California’s Transportation system, he was promoted to Supervising Transportation Engineer. Mr. Hauke was interviewed twice, once on October 30, 1989 and December 18, 1989. In the first interview, Hauke describes his personal earthquake experience, and he learned of the severity of the Loma Prieta Earthquake by seeing the damage of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and the Cypress Structure on television. Hauke then drove to the Manzanita Maintenance yard, and after speaking with Bob Jacobs, the Maintenance Deputy for Caltrans District 4, he was told to report to the Caltrans District office at 150 Oak Street. He describes how it was like to drive into San Francisco after the earthquake. Upon arrival at 150 Oak Street, he described how it was like working without electricity and no building ventilation and having to fix these problems. His primary responsibility was to assist in logging the damage reports and establishing an emergency command center for the District 4 Maintenance Department.
In the second interview, Hauke mentions how important it was for Maintenance to manage the press. He also mentions how useful Director’s orders were in procuring emergency contracts. Hauke also sent Jim Claypool, up to the Office of Emergency Services in Sacramento to act as a representative for District 4. He was also appreciative of earthquake exercises he did before the earthquake, so that he knew who to contact for this disaster. Another helpful addition was the donation of cellular phones to Caltrans to make communication easier. Hauke mentions how some of the Cypress Structure did not go home to weeks and how hard it was on the works. He also described some of the damage that was sustained on the Richmond San Rafael Bridge and Highway 17. Hauke describes the use of different contractors and the relationship between contractors and Caltrans during the time after the earthquake. Hauke also described the need for timber to shore damaged structures and how Caltrans ordered it. He also ordered I-beams and H-beams from Texas and how they were escorted by state police to get to California.
Creators and Contributors
Creator:
Loma Prieta Oral History Project
Interviewer: Morton, Charles Ingalls III
Interviewee: Hauke, Jerry
Copyright holder: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Interviewer: Morton, Charles Ingalls III
Interviewee: Hauke, Jerry
Copyright holder: California Department of Transportation (Caltrans)
Genre
Language
Media Type
Format
Audio cassette
Extent
2
Tapes
Generation
Original
Track Standard
NTSC
Copyright Statement
Copyrighted. Rights are owned by California Department of Transportation. Transmission or reproduction of materials protected by copyright beyond that allowed by fair use requires the written permission of the copyright owner. In addition, the reproduction of some materials may be restricted by terms of gift or purchase agreements, donor restrictions, privacy and publicity rights, licensing and trademarks. Works not in the public domain cannot be commercially exploited without permission of the copyright owner. Responsibility for any use rests exclusively with the user.
Country of Creation
United States
Copyright Date
October 30th, 1989
December 18th, 1989
December 18th, 1989
Contributing Organization
Contributing Organization Contact Information
Email: library@dot.ca.gov
Phone: (916) 654-4601
Phone: (916) 654-4601
Organization Websites
Link to Internet Archive