The Hunters Point Crane

Bay Curious

KQED

History, Society & Culture, Places & Travel

4.9 • 999 Ratings

🗓️ 19 September 2024

⏱️ 16 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

It looks sort of like a gigantic table...or a huge metal space dog...or maybe even an Imperial Walker from Star Wars. Whatever you imagine the Hunters Point Gantry Crane looks like, it certainly stands out—this massive structure on the edge of the bay on San Francisco's south side can be seen from three counties. But what is it doing there? This week, reporter Ezra David Romero investigates its origins and how it relates to actions by the U.S. Navy decades ago still haunt San Franciscans today. Additional Reading: The Hunters Point Crane’s Legacy Is Both Majestic and Troubling Read a transcript of this episode Sign up for our newsletter Enter our Sierra Nevada Brewing Company monthly trivia contest Your support makes KQED podcasts possible. You can show your love by going to https://kqed.org/donate/podcasts This story was reported by Ezra David Romero. Bay Curious is made by Olivia Allen-Price, Katrina Schwartz, Amanda Font, Christopher Beale, and Ana De Almeida Amaral. Additional support from Jen Chien, Katie Sprenger, Maha Sanad, Holly Kernan, and the whole KQED family.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hey, I'm Bianca Taylor. I'm the host of KQED's new podcast, the latest. The latest from
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0:27.9	thoughts at podcast at KQED.org.
0:31.2	From K-Q-Q-E-D. Every time Olivia Grubert drives over the Bay Bridge from Oakland, she notices this thing perched on the edge of the bay, on the south side of the city.
0:45.0	You see this massive structure just kind of all by itself, and it seems that no one really knows too much about it.
0:51.0	I keep pointing it out.
0:52.0	It turns out that metal monolith has a name. It's called
0:55.6	the Hunter's Point Gantry Crane. From a distance, you see the structure looks like an outline of a
1:01.6	dining table with four legs and a rectangular top. On top of that
1:06.8	table on one side a wide arch reaches up to the sky and this this thing is big, so big it can be seen from at least three counties.
1:17.9	Olivia sent us this question. I live in Oakland and I was curious, can you tell us about the massive crane at
1:24.3	Hunter's Point how did it use to operate and why is it still around today?
1:28.4	The Hunter's Point Gantry Crane is 450 feet tall and 730 feet long. It weighs as much as the Eiffel Tower. It's an
1:38.7	iconic piece of infrastructure, not unlike the Sutra Tower or the Bay Bridge, but perhaps the more underrated cousin.
1:47.0	What else is there to know? A whole lot. I'm Olivia Allen Bryce.
1:55.0	I'm Olivia Allen Bryce.
1:57.0	On today's episode, we dig into the crane's history
2:00.0	by talking to San Francisco locals who see the crane as a piece of ingenuity,
	...

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