City planners in Washington made some bold decisions after learning how bridges and overpasses were affected by the 1989 Bay Area Earthquake.
The quake, which registered 6.9 on the Richter Scale, caused the Nimitz Freeway on Interstate 880 in Oakland to collapse. Entire sections of the upper deck collapsed directly on the lower deck, crushing more than two dozen cars and their occupants.
Timing is Everything
The time the earthquake struck – 5 p.m.- usually meant much more traffic should have been stuck on the Nimitz. But that year, baseball’s World Series featured two local teams: the Oakland A’s and the San Fransisco Giants. Ten of thousands came home early from work and errands to watch the game on television.
The collapse of the Nimitz Freeway meant change for a viaduct in Washington.
The Nimitz Freeway was designed similarly to Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct, which ran the length of the downtown Seattle waterfront.
Due to Seattle’s earthquake history, planners knew the Alaskan Way Viaduct had to go…