BILL NUMBER: SCR 9 ENROLLED
BILL TEXT
ADOPTED IN SENATE APRIL 23, 2009
ADOPTED IN ASSEMBLY JULY 9, 2009
INTRODUCED BY Senator Wiggins
JANUARY 15, 2009
Relative to the James F. McManus Memorial Bridge.
LEGISLATIVE COUNSEL'S DIGEST
SCR 9, Wiggins. The James F. McManus Memorial Bridge.
This measure would designate the Salmon Creek Bridge on State
Highway Route 101 in Humboldt County as the James F. McManus Memorial
Bridge. The measure would also request the Department of
Transportation to determine the cost of appropriate signs showing
this special designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate
sources covering that cost, to erect those signs.
WHEREAS, James F. McManus is deserving of special public
commendation in recognition of his exemplary career with the
Department of Transportation (Caltrans) for nearly 40 years; and
WHEREAS, James F. McManus was born on May 29, 1929, in Oakland,
California. His love for engineering and flying was stimulated by his
father's work with the Univac Supercomputer, which was used to
schedule the then-secret B-19 Bomber project during World War II; and
WHEREAS, James F. McManus attended City College of San Francisco,
until he joined the United States Marine Corps during the Korean War.
He later returned to college at San Jose State University; and
WHEREAS, In 1954, James F. McManus began his career at Caltrans as
a junior civil engineer and immediately impressed his supervisors
with his engineering abilities; and
WHEREAS, During his 18-year tenure in District 1 of Caltrans,
James F. McManus moved from construction to the laboratory, where he
tested materials for roadways, and ultimately into design, planning,
and project management, where he worked on the design of numerous
highway and freeway projects; and
WHEREAS, After the 1964 flood incident in northern California,
James F. McManus worked on the Highway 101 freeway project and
designed a five-mile stretch of the Redwood Freeway south of Myers
Flat. He was particularly proud of this project because, in addition
to bypassing Myers Flat and avoiding impact to the old growth
redwoods and parks south of the Eel River, he successfully convinced
the district leadership to change the original alignment of the
highway to create his vision of a panoramic view of the magnificent
Eel River. The Myers Flat Bypass included five bridges across the Eel
River and its tributaries, including the Salmon Creek Bridge; and
WHEREAS, As a leader of the district computer section, James F.
McManus developed a revolutionary computer program called MANSCAN,
which scheduled the manpower across the many professional disciplines
required to design and construct each major project and thereby
allowed projects to be more efficiently tracked and planned. This
program was renamed PYPSCAN and was used for purposes of program
management for many decades; and
WHEREAS, Following his many achievements in District 1, James F.
McManus was promoted in 1972 to work in the department's headquarters
in Sacramento, California, as a senior transportation engineer; and
WHEREAS, James F. McManus became a principal engineer in 1982, and
was promoted to Deputy Director of District 7 in Los Angeles in
1984, where he oversaw the planning, design, and construction of the
monumental Century Freeway project and won Engineer of the Year for
Caltrans as a result; and
WHEREAS, In 1986, James F. McManus moved back to Sacramento,
California, and was promoted to Career Executive, Level 3. He
finished his career as Deputy Chief Engineer and managed programs for
the entire state from 1988 until his retirement in 1992; and
WHEREAS, Throughout his career, James F. McManus was a man of the
highest quality and integrity and a dedicated and creative member of
the Caltrans engineering organization; and
WHEREAS, After 38 years of service, James F. McManus retired from
Caltrans on October 7, 1992, and died on December 2, 2006; and
WHEREAS, It is appropriate to recognize James F. McManus' many
years of dedicated service to Caltrans and to the people of
California by designating the Salmon Creek Bridge in his memory; now,
therefore, be it
Resolved by the Senate of the State of California, the Assembly
thereof concurring, That the Salmon Creek Bridge (Bridge No. 4-176,
postmile 23.9) on State Highway Route 101 in Humboldt County shall be
designated as the James F. McManus Memorial Bridge; and be it
further
Resolved, That the Department of Transportation is requested to
determine the cost of appropriate signs, consistent with the signing
requirements for the state highway system, showing this special
designation and, upon receiving donations from nonstate sources
sufficient to cover that cost, to erect those signs; 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
appropriate distribution.