San Mateo–Hayward Bridge
road bridge across San Francisco Bay in San Mateo County, California, United States
The San Mateo–Hayward Bridge (commonly called the San Mateo Bridge) is a bridge crossing the American state of California's San Francisco Bay, linking the San Francisco Peninsula with the East Bay. The bridge's western end is in Foster City, a suburb on the eastern edge of San Mateo. The eastern end of the bridge is in Hayward. It is the longest fixed-link bridge in California and the 25th longest in the world. The bridge is owned by the state of California, and is maintained by California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), the state highway agency. Further oversight is provided by the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA).
The bridge is part of State Route 92 (SR 92), whose western terminus is at the city of Half Moon Bay on the Pacific coast. It links Interstate 880 (I-880) in the East Bay with U.S. Route 101 (US 101) on the peninsula. It is roughly parallel to, and lies between, the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge and the Dumbarton Bridge.
History and description
1929 original bridge
The San Francisco Bay Toll-Bridge Company issued $4.5 million (equivalent to $65.2 million in 2024) in bonds to raise a portion of the estimated $7.5 million (equivalent to $109 million in 2024) budget required to build the first bridge.
The public source identifies “San Mateo–Hayward Bridge” as road bridge across San Francisco Bay in San Mateo County, California, United States. This brief keeps that definition visible, then builds a research path around Mateo, Hayward and Bridge.
Why this record matters
A short description can identify a subject without explaining its stakes. For “San Mateo–Hayward Bridge”, the useful work is to connect “road bridge across San Francisco Bay in San Mateo County, California, United States” to the records capable of establishing context and consequence.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 28, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q128023. Authority coordinates are 37.591, -122.243. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1929 and 2024.
Architectural summaries often privilege surviving fabric and can understate demolished phases, contested use or displaced communities. The source lead contains qualifying language; that uncertainty should survive quotation, summary and reuse. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
- Historic place names
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
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- Expand the search: follow San Mateo–Hayward Bridge primary sources, San Mateo–Hayward Bridge archive and Mateo research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
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Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “San Mateo–Hayward Bridge” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.