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. This recording is the Loma Prieta Oral History of Al Hodson, who was an Associate Transportation Engineer for Caltrans in District 4. In this recording, Hodson describes his experience of feeling the earthquake at his home in Oakland, sharing his information over his ham radio after the earthquake, and working as storm damage coordinator. As a storm damage coordinator he was in the section of Caltrans that identified the work that needed to be done, gathering estimates of damage, procuring contractors, writing director’s orders and service contracts to pay the contractors. This recording is worth preserving as it is a first-hand account of a personal experience of a major earthquake in California and the work that was done to fix the transportation system afterwards.
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