Bay Bridge Related Coverage
Sep 7, 2009 7:17 pm US/Pacific
Bay Bridge To Be Closed Tuesday
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS 5 / KCBS / AP / BCN) ―
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This diagram shows the location of the cracked support beam on the Bay Bridge.
CBS
Transportation officials Monday asked Bay Area commuters to remain patient while the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge remains closed an extra day so that crews can repair a crack found in the bridge this weekend.
At a late afternoon news conference, California Department of Transportation Director Randy Iwasaki said all planned work associated with the bridge closure will be completed on schedule. However, a cracked eyebar was spotted during a routine inspection of the bridge Saturday, and those repairs will require an extended closure of the bridge.
Iwasaki said Caltrans' goal is to have the bridge opened to the public by 5 a.m. Wednesday.
The Bay Bridge closed Thursday night and was scheduled to reopen by 5 a.m. Tuesday after a complex Labor Day weekend replacement project that called for crews to be stationed 150 feet in the air to cut away a double-deck bridge section the size of two stacked football fields and slide in a prefabricated replacement.
But the cracked piece, located on the eastern span of the bridge, had construction crews scrambling this weekend to complete designs for the repair work and gather all the materials needed to finish the project, according to Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney.
The materials arrived by plane on Sunday, and crews worked through the night on the repairs.
The crack was found as part of an inspection that is federally mandated to take place once every two years. Ney said the crack was not there during the inspection two years ago, and is "definitely not related to the Labor Day weekend bridge construction."
Speakers at Monday's news conference, touted the progress of the scheduled work as crews near completion of the most complex procedure of the bridge replacement project.
Friday was the first time that the bridge was closed on a workday since part of it collapsed in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
Other Bay Area bridges and public transportation systems were able to accommodate the extra riders Friday, but Tuesday's rush hours could prove more troublesome.
(© CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or redistributed. The Associated Press and Bay City News contributed to this report.)
Slideshow: Bridge Construction Project
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