Pier 80
(Subarea 4-1)
Given the potential impacts of earthquakes, flooding, and future sea level rise, what’s at stake in Pier 80?
The following maps detail important disaster response resources, transportation services, maritime industries, and public utilities located in Pier 80.
In this subarea, Port operations at Pier 80 will be impacted by higher water levels as well as movement of goods from Pier 80. Similarly, future flooding and sea level rise will disrupt public transportation access and roadways, meaning residents who live nearby may not be able to get where they need to go and connect to the rest of the city. There are also environmental challenges due to industrial use in this area.
Keep scrolling to learn more about how particular places and services in Pier 80 could be impacted by these risks.
In the event of a natural disaster, the 60-acre Pier 80 is included in FEMA’s emergency response plan as a location for staging and moving debris following a disaster.
It also houses oil spill response equipment. Additional ways Pier 80 is connected to the City’s ability to respond to a disaster include:
- A connection to the San Francisco Bay Railroad, which can be used to remove materials after a disaster, would be inundated. Rail is particularly sensitive to flooding because trains cannot operate with even minimal flooding, and flooding in one section can shut down an entire network.
- FEMA’s ability to provide disaster response and recovery services requires the use of Pier 80’s large vessel berth, which can be used to move supplies, equipment, and emergency crews. Other large vessels also use the large vessel berth at Pier 80.
Click on the yellow dots on the map to learn more about disaster response services at Pier 80.
Primary public transit in Pier 80 is provided by the T-Third Muni Metro line, the city’s newest light rail line which began full-time service in 2007. It runs along Third Street and offers important north-south transportation links to the broader Muni Metro system with a connection near Embarcadero and Third Street.
Muni Metro East, which provides maintenance, operations, and storage for light rail vehicles and historic streetcars, is located within the Pier 80 subarea. System-wide impacts to the Muni transit system would occur if this facility is out of service for an extended period.
Major nearby roadways include Illinois Street and Cargo Way, while the San Francisco Bay Railroad, which hauls soils and cargo that can be transferred to the national Union Pacific Railroad, operates in the area.
- The San Francisco Bay Trail also runs through Pier 80 as a key route.
With bicycle lanes, bus and trolley routes directly along the waterfront and throughout this area, South Beach has many transit amenities.
Click the blue dots of the map to explore the transportation network options that help get people to, from, and around Pier 80.
Pier 80 is San Francisco’s largest cargo terminal and can support the direct unloading of materials from ships to shore and railroad. Pier 80 is considered a highly valuable maritime asset that is vulnerable to temporary and permanent flooding.
- Pier 80 is currently operated by PASHA to export approximately 100,000 automobiles a year. Operations at Pier 80 support local union waterfront jobs. Key infrastructure assets include four deep water berths, four cranes, and approximately 400,000 square feet of covered storage sheds.
Pier 80 is also part of the Port’s Maritime Eco-Industrial Strategy, an area that combines maritime industrial use with green design and green technology in ways that encourage economic opportunities for local residents while minimizing the environmental impact and promoting development of open space and wildlife habitat.
Click on blue dots to learn more about the maritime facilities and services in Pier 80.
Draft guiding principles of the Waterfront Resilience Program include creating opportunities to enhance and expand open space, increasing free public access to the waterfront, restoring habitats, and offering education.
Pier 80 offers some excellent public access to open spaces, including:
- The San Francisco Bay Trail runs along Illinois Street and is part of a 500-mile waterfront walking and cycling path around the entire bay. The trail runs through all nine counties and Blue Greenway, the City’s project to improve its southern portion of the San Francisco Bay Trail.
- Islais Creek northern shoreline open space.
- Tulare park and Warm Water Cove park.
Pier 80 has been used for nesting Osprey and Falcons and small wetlands exist along the north and south shores of Islais Creek and Warmwater Cove.
Click the green dots on the map to learn more about the public sites, open parks, and waterfront spaces in Pier 80.
San Francisco’s neighborhoods and businesses rely on buried and above ground infrastructure, such as wastewater and stormwater pipelines, power lines, and water distribution pipelines.
Key utilities located and operated within Pier 80 include:
- Channel force main, a 66-inch diameter reinforced concrete pipe that connects the Channel pump station to the Southeast Treatment Plant located in the Islais Creek subarea.
- Buried water supply pipes as well as buried wastewater and stormwater sewer pipes.
- The Transbay Cable, which includes an electrical transmission cable together with a fiber optic communication cable. It runs along the bottom of San Francisco Bay from Pittsburg and connects to the Potrero Hill substation in the Pier 70 subarea.
Click the gray dots on the map to learn more about the city’s major utility infrastructure.
After assessing community priorities and specific seismic and flood risk in this subarea, the Port and its partners, including the City, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, and other key stakeholders, are currently reviewing potential strategies for addressing these challenges and adapting the waterfront to reduce risks and meet the needs, priorities, and visions of the community over time. The Port has begun to identify measures, or specific strategies for adapting San Francisco's waterfront in the face of earthquakes, flooding, and future sea level rise. Visit the Measures Explorer to learn more.
A preliminary seismic assessment for the subareas between Mission Creek and Heron’s Head will be completed as part of the Initial Southern Waterfront Seismic Study.
Thank you for reviewing the Pier 80 Waterfront Resilience Story Map. To view more detailed information about this subarea, click on the technical documents below.
Check out the Seismic and Flood Risk 101 page to learn more about these hazards as they apply to San Francisco’s waterfront.