Senate Concurrent Resolution
No. 97
CHAPTER 135
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 that cost, to erect those signs.
Digest Key
WHEREAS, Alfred “Al” Zampa was born on March 12, 1905, in Selby, California, the oldest son of southern Italian immigrants, and the brother to two 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, When 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 the 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 building 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, consistent with the signing requirements for the state highway system, showing this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources covering that cost, to erect those 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.