this is a component that came from china. it's a real symbol of the global economy. and it is a complex project. it shows how we're linked together. and thirdly, it's going to be this amazing opportunity for us regular self-defense when the bridge is finished, particularly here on the east side, to ride out here, our bikes, to walk out here across the bridge. to really tie us culturally as well as economically together in the bay area. i want to thank the workers and the cal trans crew that's been working so hard on this project for over a decade now. this has been difficult. i know the last mayor had a little bit of to say about the design. this has gone through three mayors. this is also when this comes

back, it will be a critical part of what we're applying for federal funds. this is part of an overall economic vision, and lastly, we all felt those tremors last week. we have to remember why we're here today. we live in earthquake country. there's so much work that we have to do to retro fit major bridges and roads in the bay area, and so that's why i'm particularly hopeful that we'll have a better outcome this week, next week in congress for the president's bill. we need to retro fit not only this bridge, but a lot of other major structures in the bay area. thank you to the engineering crew. thank you to the iron workers. thank you to international workers in china for building this last section. this is really a great day for the bay area 678. >> thank you, mayor.

we could not let today pass without major representation from the bay area city, since this is a significant link here between the bay cities. i'd like to introduce from the city of san francisco, mohammed nuru. >> good morning, and thank you for having us out here. i'd like to start by first of all expressing mayor lee's regret for not being able to come here. unfortunately, he got stuck at city hall. but with that said, we are very, very happy to be here for this event, and to join our partners. this celebration today marking installation of the 28th piece of the piece of bridge completes the driveway, bringing the rage into san francisco. as we heard from the mayor, it

is a very, very important part of the project because it does connect san francisco. as you know, of 100 million people use this bridge in a year to come to san francisco. but the construction of the bridge itself brings a lot of jobs to the bay area and we're very, very happy about that in support of all the work that our president is doing in washington to bring more of projects of this type. this bridge marks a huge improvement to connecting san francisco, and also connecting treasure island, which is the development that will be -- it's a development that's under way, and will hopefully be a place where everyone can also enjoy and ride their bicycles.

next year we'll be celebrating the 75th anniversary of the bay area bridge. i want to remind everyone to look forward to that celebration. it should be huge. i know there's a number of projects, some lighting of the bridge and all sorts of celebrations. with that said, i'm very happy to be here and san francisco is proud to be part of this project. thank you. >> thank you very much. i'd like to talk about the significance of what's been accomplished here today. it's another major milestone in the construction project that is replacing the san francisco oakland bay bridge. another major step forward in the completion. obviously, it's very important, and as was mentioned earlier about the number of motors that use this bridge, it's 280,000-plus motorists that use this every day and it's an

important economic lifeline, and this extraordinary work done today will ensure that this lifeline will be safe for generations to come. as we speak behind me, you can see that the final deck section is being listed into place. all 28 deck sessions will be in place and this is a massive step toward the completion of this engineering icon bridge. it closes the gap between the s.a.s. and the skyway, which we are standing on. it will give us a clearer picture of what the skyway will look like and the opening of the bridge late in 2013. we've been work at this. the department of transportation as well as the contractor and many workers and the subcontractors. we've been work on this for 21 months. on february 3 of 2010, the first deck section was put into place. and i want to thank all of cal tran's workers, whose efforts over that period of time has led to this point as well as the

contractor and the subcontractors for all the continued great work. the engineers and construction crews will be working night and day to livet all those 28 deck sections into place for this world class bridge and they deserve a lot of recognition and our sincere thank you. i'd also like to give a specific thank you in recognition to american bridge and floor enterprise, the main contractor on this project and to all the employees who have made this achievement possible, and we'll hear from the project manager of that endeavor a little bit later. i want to thank the oversight committee. we'll hear next from steve hemmingger. but i'd also like to thank mr. rinehart, who was not able to be here today. i want to thank the residents for their patience and support

on this important project. i'll close with message to all the driving public. we ask you to drive safely and move over when it's safe to do so. at this time, i'd like to introduce, as mentioned before, the executive drecktor of the bay area toll authority, >> good morning, everybody. we broke ground on this project, or broke water, i don't know what the right phrase is for a bridge, in the year 2000. today is a big step toward completion of the project. i think it's important to mark milestones, especially when a

project lasts this long. but the only milestone that really matters, as mayor kwan says, is when we can move traffic from that bridge on to this one. that seismic safety imperative has always been uppermost in our mind. and it continues to be with the reminders that we've seen with recent seismic activity just over the last few weeks. mayor kwan, i want to assure you we are going to open this bridge when you are still mayor. as for mayor lee, i guess we'll find out in a few weeks. we are going to open it as quickly as possible. we certainly hope by late 2013, or sooner if possible, and let me conclude, if i could, because we'd be introducing brian peterson next, the project manager, that i sure hope now that we've got all the steel in place, we can really put the

pedal to the metal. congratulations to all the workers who have gotten us this far and let's get the last stretch done now. thank you. >> before i introduce our last important speaker, i want to close my comments on a safety note and acknowledge other partners that are here, the california highway patrol. i do know that seward is here for the california highway patrol and i want to extend my appreciation to them. at this time, i would like to introduce our last speaker, the project manager for this great project. brian peterson.

>> good morning, everyone. it is a very exciting day. i appreciate the attendance we have here. it's a great day here. it's a beautiful day. we've got a lot of this evenings ahead of us here. today is one of many great days for the project and american bridge floor marks the erection of a last piece of bridge stack. and the final major piece of the fabricated steel for the project. today's piece will allow us to start the cable work in the months to come. so you'll see a dynamic change again in the bridge. we are proud of the fabrication that has been provided by dpmc and we thank them for all of

their efforts. we're also very fortunate to have an experienced work force here on the project that can accomplish great feats like you see going on behind us. without their skill, without their effort, this wouldn't be possible. milestones like today are only achieved through the spirit of cooperation, communication, and coordination. and for that, american bridge floor appreciates the team work of everybody that is here today and some special ones that couldn't be here as well. finally, i express our gratitude for the support from cal trans, the california transportation commission, and all of the elected officials that have supported this project, and like steve said, we look forward to continuing the work on this project to drive forward to a possible opening to traffic and seismic safety.

the paramount that's left for the joint venture to complete. i thank everybody for attending and i hope you enjoy the day. >> thank you all again for coming out to mark this momentous occasion. now i'm going to turn it over to bart for logistics. >> at this point, that concludes the speaking part of the day. and i know that some of you are going to remain on the deck with us and do your live -- we're going to go ahead and adjourn the speakers. brian, if you want to go ahead and allow them to take a peek at the segment, it looks like it's moving pretty well, actually.

>> i'm your host of "culturewire," and today, here at electric works in san francisco. nice to see you today. thanks for inviting us in and showing us your amazing facility today. >> my pleasure. >> how long has electric works been around? >> electric works has been in san francisco since the beginning of 2007. we moved here from brisbane from

our old innovation. we do printmaking, gallery shows, and we have a fabulous retail store where there are lots of fun things to find. >> we will look at all of that as we walk around. it is incredible to me how many different things you do. how is it you identify that san francisco was in need of all these different services? >> it came from stepping out of graduate school in 1972. i wrote a little thing about how this is an idea, how our world should work. it should have printmaking, archiving, a gallery. it should have a retail store. in 1972, i wanted to have art sales, point-of-sale at the grocery store. >> so you go through the manifesto. with the bay area should have. you are making art incredibly accessible in so many different ways, so that is a good segue.

let's take a walk around the facilities. here we are in your gallery space. can you tell me about the current show? >> the current show is jeff chadsey. he is working on mylar velum, a smooth, beautiful drawing surface. i do not know anyone that draws as well as he does. it is perfect, following the contours and making the shape of the body. >> your gallery represents artists from all over, not just the bay area, an artist that work in a lot of different media. how to use some of what you look for in artists you represent? >> it is dependent on people are confident with their materials. that is a really important thing. there is enough stuff in the world already. >> you also have in his current show an artist who makes sculpture out of some really interesting types of materials. let's go over and take a look at

that. here we are in a smaller space. project gallery. >> artists used the parameters of this space to find relationships between the work that is not out in the big gallery. >> i noticed a lot of artists doing really site-specific work. >> this is a pile of balloons, something that is so familiar, like a child's balloon. in this proportion, suddenly, it becomes something out of a dream. >> or a nightmare. >> may be a nightmare. >> this one over here is even harder to figure out what the initial material is. >> this is made out of puffy paint. often, kids use it to decorate their clothes. she has made all these lines of paint. >> for the pieces we are looking at, is there a core of foam or

something in the middle of these pieces that she built on top of? >> i'm not telling. >> ah, a secret. >> this silver is aluminum foil, crumbled of aluminum foil. her aesthetic is very much that quiet, japanese spatial thing that i really admire. their attention to the materiality of the things of the world. >> this is a nice juxtaposition you have going on right now. you have a more established artists alongside and emerging artists. is that something important to you as well? >> very important in this space, to have artists who really have not shown much. now let's look at other aspects of electric works operation. let's go to the bookstore. >> ok. >> in all seriousness, here we

are in your store. this is the first space you encounter when you come in off the street. it has evolved since you open here into the most amazingly curious selection of things. >> this was the project for the berkeley art museum. it was -- this is from william wiley's retrospective, when he got up onstage to sing a song, 270 people put on the cat. >> it is not just a bookstore. it is a store. can you talk us through some of your favorites? >> these are made in china, but they are made out of cattails. >> these pieces of here, you have a whale head and various animals and their health over there, and they are jewelry. >> we do fund raisers for nonprofits, so we are doing a project for the magic theater, so there are some pretty funny cartoons. they are probably not for prime time.

>> you sort of have a kind of holistic relationship where you might do merchandise in the store that promotes their work and practice, and also, prince for them. maybe we should go back and look at the print operation now. >> let's go. >> before we go into the print shop, i noticed some incredible items you have talked back here. what are we standing in front of? >> this is william wiley, only one earth. this is a print edition. there are only eight total, and what we wanted to do was expand the idea of printmaking. this is really an art object. there we go. >> besides the punball machine,

what do you produce in limited edition? >> there is the slot machine. if you win the super jackpot, you have saved the world. >> what about work? >> the right design, it was three volumes with lithographs in each volume. the cab of count dracula with 20 lithographs inside and lined with beaver fur. really special. >> let's move on to the print shop. >> ok. the core of what we do is making things. this is an example. this is a print project that will be a fund-raiser for the contemporary music players. we decided to put it in the portfolio so you could either frame at or have it on your bookshelf. >> so nonprofits can come to you, not just visual are nonprofits, but just nonprofits

can come to you, and you will produce prints for them to sell, and the profits, they can keep. >> the return on investment is usually four times to 10 times the amount of investment. this is for the bio reserve in mexico, and this is one of the artists we represent. >> you also make prints for the artists that you represent. over here are some large prints by a phenomenal artist. >> he writes these beautiful things. anyone who has told you paradise is a book of rules is -- has only appeared through the windows. this is from all over coffee. we are contract printers for all kinds of organizations all across the country. >> thank you very much for showing us around today. i really appreciate you taking the time to let me get better acquainted with the operation

and also to share with our "culturewire" team. when a resident of san francisco is looking for health care, you look in your neighborhood first. what is closest to you? if you come to a neighborhood health center or a clinic, you then have access it a system of care in the community health network. we are a system of care that was probably based on the family practice model, but it was really clear that there are special populations with special needs. the cole street clinic is a youth clinic in the heart of the haight ashbury and they target youth. tom woodell takes care of many

of the central city residents and they have great expertise in providing services for many of the homeless. potrero hill and southeast health centers are health centers in those particular communities that are family health centers, so they provide health care to patients across the age span. . >> many of our clients are working poor. they pay their taxes. they may run into a rough patch now and then and what we're able to provide is a bridge towards getting them back on their feet. the center averages about 14,000 visits a year in the health clinic alone. one of the areas that we specialize in is family medicine, but the additional focus of that is is to provide care to women and children. women find out they're pregnant, we talk to them about the importance of getting good prenatal care which takes many visits. we initially will see them for

their full physical to determine their base line health, and then enroll them in prenatal care which occurs over the next 9 months. group prenatal care is designed to give women the opportunity to bond during their pregnancy with other women that have similar due dates. our doctors here are family doctors. they are able to help these women deliver their babies at the hospital, at general hospital. we also have the wic program, which is a program that provides food vouchers for our families after they have their children, up to age 5 they are able to receive food vouchers to get milk and cereal for their children. >> it's for the city, not only our clinic, but the city. we have all our children in san francisco should have insurance now because if they are low income enough, they get medical. if they actually have a little more assets, a little more

income, they can get happy family. we do have family who come outside of our neighborhood to come on our clinic. one thing i learn from our clients, no matter how old they are, no matter how little english they know, they know how to get to chinatown, meaning they know how to get to our clinic. 85 percent of our staff is bilingual because we are serving many monolingual chinese patients. they can be child care providers so our clients can go out and work. >> we found more and more women of child bearing age come down with cancer and they have kids and the kids were having a horrible time and parents were having a horrible time. how do parents tell their kids they may not be here?

what we do is provide a place and the material and support and then they figure out their own truth, what it means to them. i see the behavior change in front of my eyes. maybe they have never been able to go out of boundaries, their lives have been so rigid to sort of expressing that makes tremendous changes. because we did what we did, it is now sort of a nationwide model. >> i think you would be surprised if you come to these clinics. many of them i think would be your neighbors if you knew that. often times we just don't discuss that. we treat husband and wife and they bring in their kids or we treat the grandparents and then the next generation. there are people who come in who need treatment for their heart disease or for their diabetes or their high blood pressure or their cholesterol or their hepatitis b. we actually provide group medical visits and group

education classes and meeting people who have similar chronic illnesses as you do really helps you understand that you are not alone in dealing with this. and it validates the experiences that you have and so you learn from each other. >> i think it's very important to try to be in tune with the needs of the community and a lot of our patients have -- a lot of our patients are actually immigrants who have a lot of competing priorities, family issues, child care issues, maybe not being able to find work or finding work and not being insured and health care sometimes isn't the top priority for them. we need to understand that so that we can help them take care of themselves physically and emotionally to deal with all these other things. they also have to be working through with people living longer and living with more chronic conditions i think

we're going to see more patients coming through. >> starting next year, every day 10,000 people will hit the age of 60 until 2020. . >> the needs of the patients that we see at kerr senior center often have to do with the consequences of long standing substance abuse and mental illness, linked to their chronic diseases. heart failure, hypertension, diabetes, cancer, stroke, those kinds of chronic illnesses. when you get them in your 30's and 40's and you have them into your aging process, you are not going to have a comfortable old age. you are also seeing in terms of epidemics, an increase in alzheimer's and it is going to increase as the population

increases. there are quite a few seniors who have mental health problems but they are also, the majority of seniors, who are hard-working, who had minimum wage jobs their whole lives, who paid social security. think about living on $889 a month in the city of san francisco needing to buy medication, one meal a day, hopefully, and health care. if we could provide health care early on we might prevent (inaudible) and people would be less likely to end up in the emergency room with a drastic outcome. we could actually provide prevention and health care to people who had no other way of getting health care, those without insurance, it might be more cost effecti