San Mateo–Hayward Bridge They provide power to the peninsula and San Francisco. The bridge was closed in the wake of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake as a precaution, but reopened on October 18, 1989. It underwent an extensive seismic retrofitting from 1997 through 2000 to protect against earthquake damage. The bridge was considered the worst evening commute in the Bay Area, which ended with the completion of a new eastern trestle carrying westbound bridge traffic in 2002. Eastbound bridge traffic took over the old trestle completely, although eastbound traffic was not expanded to three lanes until February 2003. Funded as part of BATA's
1989 Loma Prieta earthquake Pipe drove heavy lift equipment to the scene and started using it to raise sections of fallen freeway enough to allow further rescue. Local workers continued their volunteer operation nonstop until October 21, 1989, when they were forced to pause as U.S. President George H. W. Bush and California Governor George Deukmejian viewed the damage. On October 21, survivor Buck Helm was freed from the wreckage, having spent 90 hours trapped in his car. Dubbed "Lucky Buck" by the local radio, Helm lived for another 29 days on life support, but then died of respiratory failure at the age of