Wednesday, October 08, 2003
Bay area's Newest Bridge named
after Alfred Zampa
The ANNOTICO Report
There are Italian American heroes that contribute to the community and
society, at great personal sacrifice.
There are also those I-A heroes who make us proud by their
accomplishments.
And then there are also those who as a "common man" act in an exemplary
manner,
with serious work ethic, high moral code, and dedication to family and
community.
When we honor such a man, we are ALSO honoring ALL those Italian
Americans who although they labored in obscurity, are unsung, without
any plaudits, showed incredible courage, and persevered and provided
for their family despite the horrendous defamation and discrimination.
Each of you no doubt have members of your family that deserve such
respect.
The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge is named after Alfred “Al” Zampa, the
first American-born child of an immigrant family who came to the United
States from Abruzzi, Italy.
The bridge is 3,465-foot suspension bridge built over the Sacramento
River in Vallejo, California, connecting Contra Costa and Solano
Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is the newest major
suspension bridge to be built in the United States in 35 years. The
concrete towers that support the bridge’s cables are 410 feet high.
On October 20, 1936, Al survived a fall while working on the Golden
Gate Bridge but broke four vertebrae in his back.
In 1987, he was the subject of a stage play entitled “The Ace” that was
performed at Fort Mason in San Francisco, was interviewed by news
stations from all over the world, and was interviewed by Charles Kuralt
for the national television show “On the Road”. Al was also
interviewed for the History Channel on top of the Golden Gate Bridge
and more recently for a new show entitled “Suicide Missions:
Skywalkers” which depicts the history of the Iron Worker Union.
Alfred Zampa passed away on April 23, 2000, at age 95.
Al’s son, Richard Zampa, is First General Vice President of the Iron
Workers Union and also serves as president of the District Council of
Iron Workers of the State of California. Al’s grandson Don Zampa is
Business Manager of Iron Workers Local Union 378, Oakland, California.
For those who are curious, below you will find the Los Angeles Times
article, an Al Zampa Bridge Memorial Site, the Ironworkers article, and
the California Legislative Resolution
=========================================================
NEW BRIDGE IN
BAY AREA FLATTERS THE GOLDEN GATE
The red and
gray suspension span will carry the name of an ironworker
who survived a fall from the famous landmark.
Los Angeles Times
By Donna Horowitz
October 7, 2003
The Bay Area's newest bridge, which resembles the world-famous Golden
Gate, is poised to make its debut next month.
The first suspension bridge built in the country since 1973, it will
open Nov. 16 to replace the westbound Carquinez Bridge and will have a
new name: the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, after an ironworker who
survived a fall from the Golden Gate Bridge during its construction. He
helped build the old Carquinez bridges, and the Bay Bridge.
The span being replaced was built in 1927; it crosses the Carquinez
Straits on Interstate 80 between the communities of Crockett and
Vallejo.
A handsome reddish and gray structure, with two 400-foot towers, the
3,400-foot-long bridge was rebuilt as part of a seismic upgrading
project.
"We analyzed the original bridge after the [1994] Northridge earthquake
and decided to go ahead and replace it," said Bart Ney, spokesman for
Caltrans.
When it opens, the bridge will be fully paid for, Ney said.
State transportation agency officials were looking to replace the
bridge as well as other structures as far back as 1988, he said. Toll
increases on Bay Area bridges at that time brought in new revenue that
paid for the $500-million replacement, which includes an interchange,
as well as other projects.
As many as 140,000 drivers cross the bridge and a companion structure,
which carries traffic in the other direction, each day. The new bridge
has been expanded with four 12-foot-wide lanes, one for carpools. In
addition, a bicycle and pedestrian lane has been added on the west
side. There also are two 10-foot shoulders.
A day before the official opening, the community plans to celebrate the
completion of construction with fireworks and a parade.
The new bridge's resemblance to the Golden Gate Bridge is unmistakable.
"We're the younger sister of the Golden Gate," Ney said. "Ours, in a
way, is more elegant."
That's because, he says, looking from the side, "you see a solid line.
There's no truss work underneath."
Not so for the Golden Gate Bridge, which was completed in 1937.
But Ney tempered his critique, saying, "The Golden Gate Bridge is
gorgeous. It's an international icon. Our bridge is a very elegant,
simple suspension bridge."
There are other differences as well.
The Zampa Memorial Bridge is mostly red; the Golden Gate Bridge is
orange.
The decision for choosing the color wasn't made lightly.
"We had a three-year public process to decide," Ney said. Red "worked
the best in the environment and the community liked it."
The towers of the Zampa Memorial Bridge are gray concrete, unlike the
Golden Gate Bridge's steel towers, which are painted orange. The
steel-reinforced concrete towers will require less maintenance because
they won't need to be repainted, Ney said.
This is the first time concrete has been used instead of steel for
bridge towers in the United States, he added. The towers themselves are
hollow — the space inside one side contains an elevator; the other side
has a staircase, which will provide access for maintenance workers.
The new bridge also will feature touches from its two larger sister
bridges.
"Our architect married the lighting from the Golden Gate and Bay Bridge
— the necklace lighting like the Bay Bridge and tower lighting like the
Golden Gate Bridge," Ney said.
Los
Angeles Times: New Bridge in Bay Area Flatters the Golden Gate http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-bridge7oct07,1,5275085.story
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
AL ZAMPA MEMORIAL BRIDGE ----- AL'S STORY
Al Zampa’s
life, his entire 95-years of life, was filled with excitement, pride,
enthusiasm, danger, and a fierce love of his profession. How many
amongst us, at the end, could honestly say, as he did, “I had a hell of
a time!”…and be willing to share the experiences and stories to prove
it.
Zampa’s parents came to America in the early 1900’s from Ortucchio,
Italy, a small village about a two-hour ride east of Rome. People
from Ortucchio are said to be “strong, but with good hearts.” Al
Zampa seemed to inherently realize that, and lived his life
accordingly.Page upon page has been written about Al Zampa the iron
worker, and about Al Zampa, a member of the “Halfway to Hell”
Club. Photos at the Crockett Historical Museum chronicle his life
from a young, buffed iron worker to a 90+ senior citizen, whose
spirited character was still undeniable.
Zampa was born March 12, 1905 in Selby, California, about 30 miles
northeast of San Francisco. He had two brothers and two sisters,
and was the oldest of the five. The family moved directly across
the highway to Tormey in his early childhood when it was discovered the
two mischievous Zampa boys were throwing rocks on the railroad tracks
just below their cottage home Not surprisingly, this practice was
frowned upon in the small company town.
After graduating high school he worked for a short time at the C&H
Sugar Refinery, and then became owner of a meat market in
Crockett. The path his life would take was determined the day a
friend told him jobs were available on the construction crew of the
Carquinez Bridge.
Who would have known the day the brash 20-year-old began work as a
rigger and pile-driver that a bridge, built over 75 years later would
be named in his honor? Certainly not his father Emilio, as he
tried to dissuade him, “bridge work is too dangerous,” Emilio told his
young son, “it’s for desperate men.”What transpired between 1926 and
2003 is what makes Al Zampa a legend to some, an enigma to others, and
a dad and grandfather to those who knew him best.Iron workers who
worked on the first bridges were in a class all their own. They
were, generally speaking, hard working, hard living individuals whose
love of excitement, adventure and daring defined their lives.
Although admittedly a little leery in the beginning, it didn’t take
Zampa long to feel comfortable working “with the devil and with
angels.” He obviously took to heart the words of his first boss
when he said, “You’re a natural. You could work on any bridge.”
And work on
bridges he did From Stockton, California, to Arizona and Texas,
he followed his dream. Early in the 1930’s he returned to the Bay
Area to work on the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, which always
remained his favorite. “Nine bridges in one and a tunnel in
between. It’s got approaches, trusses, girders, a camel back, a
cantilever span, two suspensions, and a tunnel. We laid the piers
240’ deep on the Oakland side…those are still the deepest piers in the
world.” The pride of many an iron worker is still evident in his
long-ago words.
The dangers were ever present; during the building of the Bay Bridge,
24 men were lost, many of whom he knew, as they went “into the hole,”
the phrase for a drastic, often-times fatal fall. Zampa, wearing
an “Iron Worker Local 378” cap, is quoted in a 1986 San Francisco
Chronicle article, explaining the fact that great bridges were hand
built. “The rivets were heated red hot on a forge and tossed up,
sometimes 90 feet, and caught in a small, funnel-type cup; they were
inserted and driven home. It had to be done just so, ‘cause if
the rivet got too cold, it wouldn’t create the proper fit.”
Zampa continued, “Anytime someone got killed on the job, we’d go
jittery and go home for the day. We’d wonder, is it our turn
next? If we got hurt, we couldn’t get no insurance, no welfare or
nothing, until the union came up. I don’t know where I’d be
without the union. I’m on a union pension.”
When accidents occurred, or on days work was prohibitive because of
weather conditions, it wasn’t unusual for Zampa to bring a large group
of iron workers home with him, where for hours they would have noisy
discussions, drink wine, and enjoy the pasta his wife Angie was quick
to prepare. It was a typical Italian household; friends were
welcome, stories were exciting, and food was plentiful. It is
little wonder that Zampa’s two boys would enter the same profession,
much to the chagrin of their apprehensive mother, who knew all too well
the corresponding dangers.
Zampa joined Local 377 of the Bridge, Structural and Ornamental Iron
Workers in order to work on the Golden Gate, which was the first bridge
in the area to be built with an all-labor crew, and the first to employ
safety nets and to require hard hats. “I just knew it was gonna
be a great bridge. No one had ever seen a bridge like that one,”
he reminisced in a profile in “Image” in 1987.
“Net Grounded; Bridge
Worker Falls; May Die” reads an October 20, 1936 headline. That
bridge worker was Al Zampa, whose “turn into the hole” had come.
While working as a connector, stepping from stringer to stringer, he
slipped on the wet iron, flipped over backwards three times, and hit
the net. The loose net hit the rocky Marin County shore,
resulting in four broken vertebrae, a 12 week stay at St. Luke’s
Hospital, and two years living with a steel back brace for Zampa.
As soon as he was able, he walked a girder of the then unpainted Golden
Gate Bridge, to prove to others, as well as to himself, that the fall
had not diminished his confidence. The fall made him a
full-fledged member of the legendary “Halfway to Hell” Club.
Unable and unwilling to remain idle during his long recovery period,
Zampa operated rental boats out of Joseph’s Fishing Resort in Rodeo,
California, and a passenger boat along the Carquinez Strait. By
this means, he had found a way to support his family while continuing
to keep watch on the progress of bridges, albeit from below rather than
from above.
Shortly after returning to work, Zampa met an old acquaintance, Tommy
Barbose. Talk quickly turned to the “old times,” when they played
baseball in Crockett. That conversation led to the organization
of the area’s first baseball league, the Tri-City Baseball League for
local youth, organized and sponsored, in large part, by Barbose and
Zampa. The league was active until 1953, and included teams from
El Sobrante, Pinole, Rodeo and Crockett. A plaque at the Crockett
Historical Museum shows a smiling group of young baseball players and
states, “Thanks, Coach.” The coach of the pennant-winning
Crockett team was none other than Al Zampa.(RAA Note: Vic DiMaggio was
a member of the team)
Although the Golden Gate had been completed by the time he fully
recovered, Zampa returned to work out of Local 378 Oakland. He
worked on the overhead cranes that can still be seen at the Mare Island
Shipyard, and on the power line towers that connect Crockett and
Vallejo over the Carquinez Strait He continued to work on other
area bridges, including the Benicia Bridge and the Richmond-San Rafael
Bridge. He took pride in the fact that he worked “side by
side” with sons Gene & Dick on the second Carquinez Bridge, which
was completed in 1958. He considered the two Carquinez Bridges
the most important because they were so near his hometown.
Zampa worked as an iron worker until his retirement in 1970, at the age
of 65. “It was important to him to be a connector (the exalted
position he held for years; being a connector is reserved for the most
daring, seasoned and respected of iron workers) on the last day he
worked,” said his grandson, Don Zampa, “to prove he could still
connect, and that he was retiring out of convenience rather than
necessity.” His highly competitive nature was still very much in
tact, and remained with him throughout his retirement years.
For many,
life changes considerably after retirement, and work slowly fades into
the background. But with two sons, and then three grandsons
working as iron workers, Zampa’s interest in bridge building was always
a part of his daily life. In 1987, on the 50th anniversary of the
Golden Gate, and the 60th anniversary of the Carquinez Bridge, Zampa
was present and was quick to be quoted by reporters who intuitively
approached the colorful Zampa… “To do bridge work, you gotta be as
surefooted as a mountain goat, agile like a cat, and be able to climb
like a monkey. I always say it takes 90% guts and 10%
know-how. I’ve got my fingerprints all over that bridge.”
In 2000, the replacement bridge over the Carquinez Strait was
launched. Zampa. 94, was present to see the “beginning of the
end” of the first bridge he worked on, the bridge on which he turned 21
years of age.
Words like “feisty, legendary, zestful, gutsy” and just about any other
adventure-type adjective were used in numerous articles to describe Al
Zampa over the years. But perhaps “The Ace”, the name given him
by Isabelle Maynard in her play by the same name, best describes Al
Zampa. The play, written by Maynard, was based on his life and
was advertised as “An ironworker’s story of heroism, risk and
recognition on the Golden Gate Bridge.” It was well-received on
San Francisco stages, especially during the bridge’s 50th anniversary
year.
The numerous proclamations, declarations and resolutions presented to
Zampa over the years from various organizations and from politicians
ranging from then San Francisco Mayor Dianne Feinstein to California
Governor George Deukmejian reached a feverish pitch during the Golden
Gate Bridge Celebration.
The staunch, lifelong democrat undoubtedly took great pleasure in being
recognized by leading democrats. He strongly believed in
supporting labor-endorsed candidates, and never missed an
election. Newscasters like Charles Kuralt and others from
throughout the world interviewed the expressive Zampa, whose courageous
spirit and perilous profession epitomized all bridge builders.
Alfred Zampa passed away on April 23, 2000, at age 95. Zampa was
a builder of bridges; bridges that traverse the waters below, allowing
travelers to explore the wonders of the world beyond. But Alfred
Zampa was not a world traveler; he was content to live his life in
Tormey, the small village in which he was raised. While he
passionately sought excitement, while he climbed daily “to work with
the angels,” he seldom traveled afar. Zampa excelled in the
profession in which he was fiercely proud, but “The Ace” was firmly
grounded by his family and friends.
How often have we ever considered the dangers involved in bridge
construction, the fears, the lives changed by disaster, the lives
lost? The story of Al Zampa is symbolic of all iron workers; may
The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge long stand in tribute.
Al Zampa Memorial Bridge
Site
http://www.alzbridge.com/bio.html
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Diane Bottini Thomas
February, 2003
Iron Worker Legacy
Al Zampa
did not leave a legacy of great financial wealth, but the work ethic he
possessed, and the pride he felt in the profession he loved, lives on
in the Zampa family history
Born of Italian immigrants Emilio Zampa and Maria Giuseppe DiCristofaro
Zampa, Al Zampa began work as an iron worker in 1926. Today, over
75 years later, descendents continue the proud iron worker tradition:
Richard “Dick” Zampa (Son)
International Union First Vice President
President of District Council of Ironworkers of States of California,
Nevada, Arizona and Hawaii
Secretary Treasurer of the State of California Building &
Construction Trades
Vice President of State Federation AFL-CIO
Donald Zampa (Grandson)
Business Manager, Financial Secretary of Local #378 Oakland (Benicia)
Dick Zampa, Jr. (Grandson)
Apprentice Coordinator for Local #378 Oakland (Benicia)
State Commissioner for the California Apprenticeship Council
Ron Zampa (Grandson)
Ironworker Local #378
Dennis Zampa (Grandson)
Carpenter Superintendent Overaa Construction
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge
Zampa Bridge Named after Ironworker who Helped Build the Golden Gate
The new Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge, a 3,465-foot suspension bridge
being built over the Sacramento River in Vallejo, California, connects
Contra Costa and Solano Counties in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is
the newest major suspension bridge to be built in the United States in
35 years. The concrete towers that will support the bridge’s cables are
410 feet high, so high that individual members of Local 378 of the
International Association of Bridge, Structural, Ornamental and
Reinforcing Iron Workers are nothing more than tiny specks of color
when you look up at them from the ground.
The Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge is named after Alfred “Al” Zampa, the
first American-born child of an immigrant family who came to the United
States from Abruzzi, Italy. Al Zampa was born in 1905 in Selby,
California, near the new bridge, and started working iron when he was
20 years old on the first Carquinez Bridge. He also helped build the
Golden Gate Bridge and the Oakland Bay Bridge.
In 1957, he worked on the construction of the second Carquinez Bridge
with two of his sons, who were also iron workers.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Senate Concurrent Resolution No. 97 RESOLUTION CHAPTER 135 Senate
Concurrent Resolution No. 97–Relative to the Alfred Zampa Memorial
Bridge. [Filed with Secretary of State September 12, 2000.] LEGISLATIVE
COUNSEL’S DIGEST SCR 97, Burton. Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge.
This measure would designate the westbound span of the Carquinez Bridge
as the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge in honor and recognition of Alfred
“Al” Zampa. The measure also would request the Department of
Transportation to determine the cost for appropriate signs showing this
special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
covering the cost, to erect those signs.
WHEREAS, Alfred “Al” Zampa was born on March 12, 1905, in Selby,
California, the oldest son of southern Italian immigrants, and the
brother to wo brothers and two sisters; and
WHEREAS, After graduating from high school, Al Zampa went into business
and became the owner of a meat market in Crockett, California until
about 1924, when a customer asked him if he wanted to go to work for
that customer on the bridge they were building from Crockett to
Vallejo; and
WHEREAS, after some hesitation, Al Zampa decided to give it a try; and
WHEREAS, The first Carquinez Bridge opened in May of 1927, in part due
to Al Zampa’s efforts, and that bridge was to be the first of many
bridges Al Zampa would work on in his illustrious career as an iron
worker; and
WHEREAS, Al Zampa continued working with the company that built the
Carquinez Bridge and worked on projects and bridges in Stockton,
California and later in Arizona and Texas, returning to California in
the early 1930's to work on the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge and
the Golden Gate Bridge; and
WHEREAS, On October 20, 1936, this outstanding iron worker fell into
the safety net while working on the Golden Gate Bridge and broke four
vertebrae in his back; and
WHEREAS, During his years of recuperation following that accident, Al
Zampa and a couple of his friends founded the area’s first baseball
league for the local youth; and
WHEREAS, He later returned to iron work and worked on the second
Carquinez Bridge in the 1950's with his two sons, Richard L. (Dick) and
Gene; and
WHEREAS, Al Zampa also worked on the Martinez Bridge and Richmond-San
Rafael Bridge and continued to work as a respected iron worker until he
retired at the age of 65; and
WHEREAS, Many years after his retirement, and prior to the Golden Gate
Bridge’s 50-Year Celebration, Al Zampa received much deserved
recognition and notoriety; and
WHEREAS, In 1987, he was the subject of a stage play entitled “The Ace”
that was performed at Fort Mason in San Francisco, was interviewed by
news stations from all over the world, and was interviewed by Charles
Kuralt for the national television show “On the Road”; and
WHEREAS, Al Zampa was also interviewed for the History Channel on top
of the Golden Gate Bridge and more recently for a new show entitled
“Suicide Missions: Skywalkers” which depicts the history of the Iron
Worker Union; and
WHEREAS, Al Zampa was always proud to be a 65-year-old union member and
grateful to have received a union pension after retiring from Iron
Workers Local 378, Oakland, in 1970; and
WHEREAS, Al Zampa strongly believed in supporting the labor endorsed
candidates, from the days of Franklin D. Roosevelt to Bill Clinton, and
was a staunch lifelong Democrat, having never missed an election; and
WHEREAS, Al Zampa passed away on April 23, 2000, at the age of 95; and
will be missed by many; and
WHEREAS, It would be a fitting tribute to Alfred “Al” Zampa to name the
soon-to-be-completed westbound span of the Carquinez Bridge as the
Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge; now, therefore, be it Resolved by the
Senate of the State of California, the Assembly thereof concurring,
That the Legislature hereby designates the westbound span of the
Carquinez Bridge the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge in honor and
recognition of Alfred “Al” Zampa; and be it further Resolved, That the
Department of Transportation is requested to determine the cost of
appropriate plaques and markers; and be it further Resolved, That the
Secretary of the Senate transmit copies of this resolution to the
Director of Transportation and to the author for distribution.
Ironworkers
- News
http://www.ironworkers.org/news/news_details.php?news_id=109