Operating Engineers Local 3
Organized Labor
Feb 2009
Operating Engineers Local 3, Working on the Really Big Project Operating engineers operate large cranes and are used to working on projects of massive scale. Still, rebuilding the Bay Bridge is something to talk about, even for them. The 4-1/2 mile bridge spans the bay over 200 feet in the air. When completed, the new bridge will have the world’s longest self anchored suspension system. To connect the new suspension section to the old tunnel running through Yerba Buena Island without disrupting traffic on one of the nation’s busiest highways will be quite a feat. The operating engineers are helping to build a temporary bridge that will divert the traffic while a section of the old bridge is removed. The connecting sections, assembled parallel to the old bridge, will then be slid into place. “The hardest thing will be keeping it level, and then sliding in the expansion joints 200 feet up in the air,” comments crane operator George William Bond, III, who started in the industry when Nixon was president. Operating Engineers Local 3 represents 42,000 workers, including crane operators, mechanics, surveyors, construction inspectors, miners and public employees. Its jurisdiction includes Northern California, Northern Nevada, Hawaii and Utah. On the Jobsite visited its members working on the Bay Bridge for CC Myers and Danny's Construction.