Caltrans Cleans Up Garbage Around San Francisco Bay

Typically, when you think of the work that Caltrans does, you probably don’t picture a boat navigating the waters of the San Francisco Bay.

Caltrans uses a boat similar to an “Uber” to transport engineers, biologists, and maintenance crews to the seven bridges that span the Bay Area. These crewmembers perform weekly navigational inspections, maintenance work, engineering inspections, seismic inspections, and other things of that nature.

Beyond these weekly trips, one day a month, teams go out specifically for litter pickup. They clean up areas that are not easily accessible, like marinas, bridge foundations, and islands such as Red Rock in Richmond. Because Caltrans typically participates in litter pick-up on roadsides, they see the Bay Area as their responsibility as well.

Their litter abatement efforts stretch far beyond their monthly cleanup day. They pick up a majority of debris while in transit from the marina to the bridge or from one bridge to another. The crew generally removes items from the water that fall off of other vessels or from nearby bridges and roadways.

It’s hard to estimate just how much trash they pick up during each trip. The crew says it varies depending on the day, but in an average year, they rid the bay of about 60,000 pounds of garbage. It’s something that they see as a service to the traveling public and as part of their job responsibility.

To learn more about Caltrans’ inspiring effort to help our environment, visit their website.

G3 partners with Caltrans on transportation projects all across the state. We appreciate the hard work and dedication they put into bettering our communities and the land we share!

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