37°46′39″N 122°15′16″W / 37.77752°N 122.25436°W Pacific Bridge Company was a large engineering and construction company. During World War II, Pacific Bridge Company of Alameda, California was selected to build US Navy Auxiliary Repair Docks (ARD) a type of Auxiliary floating drydock and Type B ship barges.[1]
| Industry | |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1869 |
| Founder | William Henry Gorrill |
| Headquarters | Portland, Oregon and Alameda, California |
Key people |
|
| Products | Bridges, ships and barges |
| Services | Iron and Steel Construction |
The Pacific Bridge Company was founded by William Henry Gorrill in 1869. In 1942 The Pacific Bridge Company was chosen to build ships, because of their reputation and skills, particularly welding. Since the coastal shipyards were busy building large vessels for the war effort, such as aircraft carriers, battleships, cruisers and destroyers, there was no alternative but to use other builders, like Bridge builders for the production of small and medium ships. Pacific Bridge Company built the first nine N3-S-A1, Type N3 ship cargo ship sent to Britain in 1943. The type N3 ships were a Maritime Commission small coastal cargo ship designed to meet urgent World War II shipping needs. Two of the N3 ships were completed and ready in a record-breaking 22 days, A crew of 480 men worked on the ship. The SS Samuel Very was one of these ships. Two N3 ships were built at the same time in the two drydocks at the Alameda Shipyard. The Alameda Shipyard had two traveling cranes to move parts.[2]
Henry J. Kaiser's had the Pacific Bridge Company join as one of Kaiser's "Group of Six" construction companies that help build the Hoover Dam, due to Pacific Bridge's expertise. Pacific Bridge also brought its capital into the large project[3][4] The shipbuilding yard was on the Oakland Alameda estuary. Some residential homes near Clement Avenue and Chestnut Street were purchased and taken down or moved to be part of the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. The Pacific Bridge Company was a contractor to the US Navy to build the ships. The shipyard was to the West of the General Engineering & Dry Dock Company. The land for the shipyard was purchased by the Navy from 24 March to 7 July 1942.[5] The Pacific Bridge Company Oakland Alameda yard discontinued shipbuilding after World War 2, continued manufacturing until 1969. In 1969 the yard was sold for redevelopment and today is the Alameda Marina. The Alameda Marina also has a commercial shipyard, ship maintenance facilities, industrial space, storage, and office buildings. Part of the shipyard became the Naval and Marine Corps Reserve Center in 1949. The Site had several training buildings that provided training on ship systems.[6][7] [8] On January 21, 2016 demolition started of the Pacific Bridge Company workshop building on Clement Ave. The land will be used for a new condominium complex.[9]
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Before ship building, Pacific Bridge Company built bridges in both the San Francisco Bay Area and Portland, Oregon. Pacific Bridge Company built 10 bridges over the Willamette River near Portland.[10][11][12][13] To provide stone for project Pacific Bridge Company purchased The McBain Stone Quarry from the estate of James McBain, in Klickitat County, Washington near the Klickitat River in 1922.[14][15][16][17]
In 1869 William Henry Gorrill founded the Pacific Bridge Company. Pacific Bridge Company was incorporated on March 29, 1872. W. H. Gorrill was President; C. F. Lucas was vice-president and C. H. Gorrill was Secretary and Treasurer.[18] William Henry Gorrill was born in 1841. William Henry Gorrill was an Ohio attorney, who was told to go west for his health, due to his tuberculosis and turned from law to building bridges. William came to California in 1870. William Henry Gorrill's wife was Katharine B Gorrill, they had one daughter, Marion H Gorrill and a son William H. Gorrill born in Oakland in 1872. William Henry Gorrill died in 1874. His son William H. became an attorney in Berkeley and for a short time professor at the University of California, Berkeley. William H. died in Berkeley on 20 Dec. 1961.[19][20][21][22]
Charles F. Swigert and H. C. Campbell purchased Pacific Bridge Company in the 1890s from William Henry Gorrill. Charles F. Swigert had been working at Pacific Bridge since 1881. Charles F. Swigert became and was President of The Pacific Bridge Company for over 40 years. H. C. Campbell became the Sec. In 1887 Charles F. Swigert and Mr. Campbell built the City and Suburban railway, which they operated until 1905. In 1005 they sold it to the Portland Railway, Light and Power Company. At the time of the sale it had eighty miles of single track. Charles F. Swigert also helped build the Lyle and Goldendale Railroad, later sold to the Northern Pacific Railway. Charles F. Swigert turned the company over to his son Gorill Swigert. Gorill Swigert turned the company over to his son William Swigert. Charles F. Swigert was born on 1 December 1863, his wife was Rena Bliss Goodnough Swigert (1865–1958). Charles F. Swigert and Rena Bliss Goodnough Swigert had three children: Charles F. Swigert, Jr., was vice president and manager of the Electric Steel Foundry Company; E. G., sales manager for Electric Steel Foundry and is married and has two children: Nannie and Ernest G., Jr.; and W. G., a director of the Pacific Bridge Company, and is married and has three children: Phyllis, W. G., Jr., and Juliette. H. C. Campbell built large bridges on the East coast before coming out west. H. C. Campbell was part of The Willamette Iron Bridge Company which failed to build the Willamette Bridge, but became part of the Pacific Bridge Company which built the Willamette Bridge.[23][24][25][26] Philip Hart was President of The Pacific Bridge Company in the 1930s-1940s and was president at the building of the Tacoma Narrows Bridge completed in 1940. Was on United Airlines Flight 6, a DC-3, that crashed landed in water a mile off the coast of Point Reyes, CA while flying from Seattle to San Francisco on November 28, 1938. The DC-3 was in a storm and ran out of fuel. There were five fatalities: the first officer, stewardess, and three passengers including Philip Hart.[27][28]
A few of the many built:
Pacific Bridge Company was awarded a contract from the Navy to salvage the sunken ships at Pearl Harbor after the attack on Pearl Harbor. Pacific Bridge drivers worked many hours to save ships and lives. The salvage and raising of the USS Oklahoma (BB-37), USS Utah (BB-31) and USS West Virginia (BB-48) was given to Pacific Bridge.[45][46][47][48][49]
Freight Barges YFN were not self-propelled, but towed to place. A YFN could carry a load of 550 long tons. YFN were used near shore and had a steel hull. They worked in harbors, rivers and other protected waters. They were 110 feet long, with a 32-foot beam and a maximum draft of 8 feet. Pacific Bridge built 27 YFN Freight Barges in 1943. Pacific Bridge also built 90 of the 138-ton barges, these smaller barges were sometimes called lighters, they were 110-foot-long, some were covered workshops, due to their simple and well-built construction some are still in service today.[51]
Auxiliary repair dock Mobile (ARDM) are 5,200 tons and are 489 feet long. ARD had a ship form hull and lifting capacity of 3,500 tons. ARDM were used to repair destroyers, submarines, and small auxiliaries. ARDM has a crew of 130 to 160 men.[7][54]
Built by Pacific Bridge in Alameda CA and are 483 feet long, beam of 71 Feet, and draft of 5 Feet. Ship displacement 4,800 tons. Crew complement 6 Officers and 125 Enlisted. Armament of two single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon. ARD had a crew of 100 to 160 men. ARD have a bow and are sea worthy. They are self-sustaining with rudders to help in tow moving and have two cranes with a 5-ton capacity. Normal also had stowage barge for extra space. Used to repair destroyers and submarines. Class 2 could repair Landing Ship, Tank (LST). The stern of ship is open to have the ship in need of repair enter.[7][54][55]