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MAINTENANCE AND OPERATIONS DEPARTMENT The Maintenance and Operations Department safely maintains and operates Alameda County’s public works facilities, including the Oakland/Alameda Estuary bridges, a heavy equipment garage, flood control pump stations, traffic signals and control devices, and streetlights.
Maintaining Alameda County's Roads and Bridges The Maintenance Division inspects 480 miles of Alameda County roadway each year and if necessary, makes repairs. Shoulder grading and restoration is performed every three to five years. In addition to routine road maintenance, every summer the Public Works Agency seals streets throughout unincorporated Alameda County. This process armor-coats the road and improves the riding conditions. The Estuary Bridges Unit maintains and operates the six drawbridges (four vehicular, one railroad, and one bicycle bridge) between the cities of Oakland and Alameda. These bridges together open and close over 5,000 times per year. MAINTAINING ALAMEDA COUNTY'S FLOOD CONTROL SYSTEMS The County’s flood control infrastructure (creeks, channels, pipelines, and storm drains) helps prevent water from backing up and flooding County streets and land. Every year, the Maintenance Division cleans out tons of material dumped into the County’s drainage structures to keep water flowing and to stop water pollution. Approximately 3,750 drop inlets are cleaned and/or inspected each year. There are 22 pump stations within Alameda County that pump excess flood waters into the bay. The Maintenance Division performs electrical and mechanical repair work, troubleshoots malfunctions, and performs emergency and preventive maintenance on 500 pieces of vehicular equipment. A number of the 3,753 County tidegates are also inspected and maintained each year. MAINTAINING ALAMEDA COUNTY'S VEGETATION The Public Works Agency uses an Integrated Vegetation Management Program to control plants that may pose a fire danger, obstruct drainage water, or interfere with facility maintenance. The Maintenance Division trims nearly 5,000 trees per year for vehicle and pedestrian clearance and safety. Weeds are controlled on 2,750 acres of roadside, on 480 centerline miles of transportation corridors, and on 4,588 acres of flood control channel. Maintenance workers use biological, chemical, cultural, and the best practices of mechanical weed control to clear out over 9,000 cubic yards of vegetation and debris from over 500 miles of flood control channel. All herbicide applications are made by state certified employees using material registered for use by the State and Federal Environmental Protection Agency. Supporting Community Service The Maintenance Division provides labor, materials, equipment, and supplies to support various community-based partnering projects. Partnership projects include creek restoration programs such as Creek-to-Bay and Adopt-a-Spot, Shoreline Cleanup, Community Cleanup Days in unincorporated areas, collaborative projects within the cities, and tree planting. PROJECT MANAGEMENT AND INSPECTION DIVISION Providing Engineering Support The Project Management and Inspection Division is responsible for providing engineering support for small capital improvement projects (such as facility security fencing or retaining wall installations and repair), as well as managing Alameda County’s flood channel desilting program. The Project Management and Inspection Division also updates the County’s Pavement Management System, which provides an objective rating of the condition of the County’s roads. This rating system allows engineers to better assess which roads need repair and what type of repair they need. Over 200 traffic signals and over 19,000 street lights are operated and maintained in the unincorporated areas of Alameda County, and by contract in the cities of Albany, Dublin, and Piedmont. Repairing County Vehicles The Fleet Division operates two major repair facilities and three mobile units to maintain and repair over 500 Public Works Agency vehicles and off-road heavy equipment. The Fleet Division also provides maintenance and 24-hour repair service for the Sheriff’s prisoner and transportation buses, all Office of Emergency Services rescue equipment, and trucks above one ton for all County departments. Alameda County's Public Works Agency's Maintenance and Operations Department operates six drawbridges over the Oakland-Alameda Estuary, within the jurisdiction of the County. Four bridges are for cars, one is for trains and another is for bicycles or pedestrians. In 2000, the voters of Alameda County passed Measure B. Measure B included funding to pay for the maintenance and operations of the High Street, Park Street, and Miller-Sweeney bridges. Click for more information:
Most of the bridges are second generation bridges built to replace swing-span bridges. The original bridges were designed mainly for horse and wagon traffic to perform such duties as exporting East Bay timber and hides or importing coffee and sugar. The original bridges were constructed by the federal government during the construction of the Estuary from 1892-1902. Alameda County assumed responsibility for operation and maintenance of the Park, High and Fruitvale Bridges in 1913. Today, the bridges handle in excess of 35 million vehicle trips annually and serve as transportation corridors for most commercial traffic between the cities of Oakland and Alameda. They also permit passage of over 5,288 private and commercial tugs, barges, sailboats and other watercraft. You might say that 22 Alameda County employees operate and maintain 10 percent of the 50 working drawbridges in the State of California. Bridge operation is regulated by the United States Coast Guard, functioning as the enforcement arm of the Federal Department of Transportation. Ken Sequeira, a BridgeTender, helped compile much of the information on the County drawbridges. |
