Post Conference Technical Tour
September 6, 2001, San Francisco, California

The Post Conference technical tour will begin at 8 am and visit some of the very interesting sites along the San Francisco waterfront. Descriptions of the sites are given below. These have been especially selected because they have been enjoyed by previous visitors to San Francisco. The tour will return from the Bay Model via a ferry ride across San Francisco Bay. Prof. Robert L. Wiegel, University of California, Berkeley, will narrate the tour with George Domurat, Corps of Engineers and Lesley Ewing, California Coastal Commission.

Wave Organ
Crissy Field
Cliff House
Seawall
Erosion of Roadway
Bay Model

Four different variations of the Cliff House have stood on the cliffs overlooking Seal Rocksat the northwest corner of San Francisco. Two earlier versions were rather modestly small in size, especially when compared with the elaborate eight-story Victorian building which stood on that spot from 1896 to 1907 as the third Cliff House. But when that ornate building burned down, the fourth version to be built was designed more like the first two -- simple, and made to blend in with the ocean and cliffs surrounding it. That fourth version is still standing today.
The concrete ruins just north of the Cliff House are the remains of the grand Sutro Baths. In 1881, Adolph Sutro bought most of the western headlands of San Francisco and made his home there. Fifteen years later, Sutro Baths opened to a dazzled public at an estimated cost of over $1, 000,000. Spread over three acres, the Baths boasted impressive engineering and artistic detail. A classic Greek portal opened to a massive glass enclosure containing seven swimming pools of various temperatures. There were slides, trapezes, springboards and a high dive. Together the pools held 1,685,000 gallons of water and could be filled in one hour by high tides. There were 20,000 bathing suits and 40,000 towels for rent. Balmy temperatures and abundant plants enhanced "California’s Tropical Winter Garden." The Baths could accommodate 10,000 people at a time.