Note from Editor
Editor's Note
By Jeff Weiss
This is the Underground Issue, an exploration of what lies beneath our streets, wheels, and feet. 
It's easy to recognize our Caltrans achievements standing on terra firma. But sometimes it helps to look below, check the foundations of our structures, inspect the pipes draining the hillsides, the culverts carrying the streams beneath the highways, the tunnels transporting traffic through the mountains.
And there's even more to explore. The top layers of soil hold records of the past. Artifacts from the Miwok, Ohlone, and Pomo tribes lie beneath our feet. There are old buildings, wrecked by earthquakes, charred by fires, some of them bulldozed into the Bay. There are human bones that are remnants from former cemeteries, supposedly relocated decades ago.
In this issue, we examine remnants of a 19th Century kindergarten, buried beneath the 1906 Earthquake rubble, until an archeological dig at the Bay Bridge anchorage unearthed them.
Landscape architect Adrienne St. John takes us on a visual journey to explore tree roots that expand through the topsoil, reaching farther than you'd ever think, competing with pipes, conduits roads, signposts, and sidewalks.
The Tom Lantos (Devil’s Slide) Tunnel leads Highway 1 through Montara Mountain, bypassing Devil’s Slide - a mishmash of broken rock and soil prone to sliding during wet winters. Alejandro Lopez and Pedro Quintana pulled an all-nighter to observe an emergency drill, replete with alarms, flashing lights, and smoke bombs to simulate a tunnel fire. Also, they look at the new generator that will power tunnel operations should a large-scale power outage occur.
The state animal, the grizzly bear, appears in this issue. As you might know, a culvert is used to direct water below a roadway. But a culvert also makes a pleasant retreat for Rubicon, Kenai, Tulare, and Truckee, the grizzly bears of the Oakland Zoo. Alejandro Lopez's video reports on how the foursome enjoy the culvert donated by Caltrans last year.
On March 4, 2021, Dina El Tawansy took the helm as District Director of Caltrans Bay Area. It’s been a busy five months and Dina has lots to say about where we’ve been and where we’re heading. Bart Ney interviews our new Director.
To keep you sharp, we've got another puzzle for you. Since this is the Underground Issueour puzzle will test your knowledge of tunnels and tubes. Good luck!
I hope you enjoy this issue of the Forward. Our next issue will arrive in your inbox in October 2021. In the meantime, if you'd like to comment on an article, or have a story idea, please email me: jeffrey.weiss@dot.ca.gov
Email: jeffrey.weiss@dot.ca.gov
