Truss Bridge, Cross-Bay Pipelines, Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, Ravenswood, CA, 2025
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Captured with Rodenstock 138mm/6.5 HR Digaron-SW lens (@ f/7.1), Phase One IQ4-150 back (@ ISO 50, 1/100 sec), Cambo WRS 5000 camera, stitched panorama of two images, shifted left and right +/- about 20mm.
A long, multi-section truss bridge carries the Hetch Hetchy pipeline over the final section of the Bay into the Peninsula at East Palo Alto. Looking at first glance like a railroad bridge, it's actually exclusively for two of the aqueduct's 5.5 foot diameter pipelines.
California's Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, completed in 1936, delivers about 85% of the water used in the San Francisco Bay area. Originating over 160 miles away, at Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy reservoir, and working chiefly by gravity, a 21 mile section of two pipelines crosses the South Bay via a series of underground tunnels and bridges just south of the Dumbarton Bridge. This bridge section, near the end of its useful life, has recently been augmented by a deep tunnel.
Infrastructure is heroic.
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California's Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, completed in 1936, delivers about 85% of the water used in the San Francisco Bay area. Originating over 160 miles away, at Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy reservoir, and working chiefly by gravity, a 21 mile section of two pipelines crosses the South Bay via a series of underground tunnels and bridges just south of the Dumbarton Bridge. This bridge section, near the end of its useful life, has recently been augmented by a deep tunnel.
Infrastructure is heroic.
The Hetch Hetchy water system was controversial from the start, pitting conservation (the primary reservoir is in a national park) against the need for clean and reliable urban water supplies. At the time of its construction, the fires from the 1906 great earthquake were still freshly in living memory, though organizations like the Sierra Club opposed the project.
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California's Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, completed in 1936, delivers about 85% of the water used in the San Francisco Bay area. Originating over 160 miles away, at Yosemite's Hetch Hetchy reservoir, and working chiefly by gravity, a 21 mile section of two pipelines crosses the South Bay via a series of underground tunnels and bridges just south of the Dumbarton Bridge. This bridge section, near the end of its useful life, has recently been augmented by a deep tunnel.
Infrastructure is heroic.
@mattblaze it's interesting how you can track the tunnels across the south bay by the contiguous series of parking lots and green space for the easement. The Pulgas Water Temple in Redwood City is a nice spot to visit, and is the end of the pipeline. I've not been to the Sunol Water Temple, which was built in 1910.
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The Hetch Hetchy water system was controversial from the start, pitting conservation (the primary reservoir is in a national park) against the need for clean and reliable urban water supplies. At the time of its construction, the fires from the 1906 great earthquake were still freshly in living memory, though organizations like the Sierra Club opposed the project.
@mattblaze ...and indeed returning the reservoir to a valley was the subject of a 2012 ballot proposition...
76.9% of voters voted to keep the water system.
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The Hetch Hetchy water system was controversial from the start, pitting conservation (the primary reservoir is in a national park) against the need for clean and reliable urban water supplies. At the time of its construction, the fires from the 1906 great earthquake were still freshly in living memory, though organizations like the Sierra Club opposed the project.
@mattblaze At Hetch Hetchy, there are three buildings—a VIP residence, a lodge, and a house, the latter two of which are (or at least were) available for booking on a lottery system for SFDPW employees. I good friend of mine has worked for them for years, and I've had the good fortune to stay in the residence twice. It's quite a amazing to essentially have the dam and, well, the entire reservoir to one's self. Lying on one's back on the dam, and staring up at the stars on a clear night, is an experience I'll never forget.
The residence itself seems to date from O'Shaughnessy's time, and is mostly kept up with period detail, and there are copies of related historical documents, including O'Shaughnessy's original report from 1916, which I managed to scan my first time there. Photocopy of course, but tons of interesting details I'd never seen before.
Also I've always been a bit of an O'Shaughnessy fangirl; few people have individually contributed so much to what SF is today.
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@mattblaze ...and indeed returning the reservoir to a valley was the subject of a 2012 ballot proposition...
76.9% of voters voted to keep the water system.
@mikef @mattblaze we've hetched our bets
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@mattblaze At Hetch Hetchy, there are three buildings—a VIP residence, a lodge, and a house, the latter two of which are (or at least were) available for booking on a lottery system for SFDPW employees. I good friend of mine has worked for them for years, and I've had the good fortune to stay in the residence twice. It's quite a amazing to essentially have the dam and, well, the entire reservoir to one's self. Lying on one's back on the dam, and staring up at the stars on a clear night, is an experience I'll never forget.
The residence itself seems to date from O'Shaughnessy's time, and is mostly kept up with period detail, and there are copies of related historical documents, including O'Shaughnessy's original report from 1916, which I managed to scan my first time there. Photocopy of course, but tons of interesting details I'd never seen before.
Also I've always been a bit of an O'Shaughnessy fangirl; few people have individually contributed so much to what SF is today.
@cora interesring!
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Truss Bridge, Cross-Bay Pipelines, Hetch Hetchy Aqueduct, Ravenswood, CA, 2025
Gallons of pixels at https://www.flickr.com/photos/mattblaze/54852854853
@mattblaze That bridge appears to go only part way across the bay. Is the 'missing" part buried in the bay floor to allow boats to cross over?
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@mattblaze At Hetch Hetchy, there are three buildings—a VIP residence, a lodge, and a house, the latter two of which are (or at least were) available for booking on a lottery system for SFDPW employees. I good friend of mine has worked for them for years, and I've had the good fortune to stay in the residence twice. It's quite a amazing to essentially have the dam and, well, the entire reservoir to one's self. Lying on one's back on the dam, and staring up at the stars on a clear night, is an experience I'll never forget.
The residence itself seems to date from O'Shaughnessy's time, and is mostly kept up with period detail, and there are copies of related historical documents, including O'Shaughnessy's original report from 1916, which I managed to scan my first time there. Photocopy of course, but tons of interesting details I'd never seen before.
Also I've always been a bit of an O'Shaughnessy fangirl; few people have individually contributed so much to what SF is today.
@cora @mattblaze Thanks for the interesting note.
When I come across dams that are tightly fitted into canyons I am reminded of the ill fated San Francisquito dam that broke in 1928. (I've been to the site several times.)
It is spooky that an almost identical dam lies largely unknown above Hollywood.
https://waterandpower.org/museum/St.%20Francis%20Dam%20Disaster.html
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@mattblaze That bridge appears to go only part way across the bay. Is the 'missing" part buried in the bay floor to allow boats to cross over?
@karlauerbach Yes, the pipeline continues under water on the east side of the bay
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undefined oblomov@sociale.network shared this topic
Gli ultimi otto messaggi ricevuti dalla Federazione
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Ieri su Radio Popolare è andata in onda una chiacchierata con me.
Mi piace Radio Pop <3
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La logica dei cartoni
Il cerotto sul vestito
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@macfranc @lauramassera @eticadigitale beh, attenzione perché la Apple deve assolutamente garantire (quasi per contratto) ai suoi clienti la privacy e la protezione dei loro dati. Tanto da avvisare loro stessi diversi clienti che nemmeno si erano accorti di aver subito intrusioni e controlli attivi sui propri dispositivi offrendo persino assistenza legale. Difendono semplicemente il loro "feudo" dando protezione (finché conviene) ai loro protetti che continuano semplicemente a consumare gadget e giochini digitali. Della libertà e della privacy in sé non gliene importa nulla a nessuno, né a chi si lascia possedere né tantomeno alle grandi aziende come Apple.
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Lavoratore muore per il freddo nei cantieri delle olimpiadi a cortina. “lo specchio del lavoro tossico e nocivo dei grandi eventi”
@anarchia
È morto per il freddo all’età di 55 anni Pietro Zantonini, originario di Brindisi, durante un turno di vigilanza notturna nel cantiere delle olimpiadi Milano-Cortina.
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@lauramassera Hai assolutamente ragione, ma diciamo anche che nel 2025 è impossibile non riconoscere che la malvagità antisociale è il tratto distintivo di quelle Big Tech che spesso si presentavano eticamente candide.
L'unica eccezione è probabilmente quella di Apple che effettivamente ha deciso, sia anche solo per questioni di marketing e narrativa aziendale, di opporsi alle nuove tendenze del cattivismo trumpiano
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@mattwiebe.blog what a journey!
I’m really impressed by your plans... I don’t think I’d ever have enough courage to pull something like that off. I hope I’ll get the chance to try your pizza someday!
Would be a great reason to visit Mexico 🙂
...and thanks for all your work on the ActivityPub plugin, I really miss your contributions ❤️
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@OpenSoul era quello che mi stavo chiedendo anch'io. Il guaio è che è difficile fare una discussione seria, perché la maggior parte dei commenti che si leggono sono a tesi...
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@stefano I think, it had been like this for a while. Sites for lots of more or less big projects, especially if they have paid version of a product, are marketing and buzzwords. That why I usually go straight to Documentation->How to get started for some simple overview and examples.
Looks like they just added those AI buttons without changing a site much.
