I was 15 that year... damn, that was scary.

...that something like 3-5 more sections of the bridge would have collapsed if the shaking had kept up just a few seconds longer. Lose enough sections, and the bridge loses integrity bringing the whole thing down.

Most people don't realize just how close that bridge came to coming down in 1989.

I have to say I'm happy I won't be driving on this monster.
I won't be a bit surprised if it was to come down at some point in the future

Now that the bridge is finished I guess it will be shipped back.

Public works project going to CHINA. Plus all the US jobs lost.

Huge deck segments were shipped overseas from Shanghai, contributing to pollution, say critics, and delivering another blow to California's battered economy and 12 % unemployment rate.
Roger Ferch with the National Steel Bridge Alliance says "I saw one estimate of the fabrication man hours, the labor to construct this bridge in the fabrication shop of more than a million man hours. That's a million man hours of work that should have been done in the US."
And each job, Ferch, says, has a multiplier effect "because not only do you lose the fabrication jobs, you lose those people paying taxes, those people buying groceries, those people buying clothing, and the list goes on."


Read more: http://www.foxnews.com/us/2011/09/20/san-francisco-oakland-bay-bridge-controversially-made-in-china/#ixzz2dqZtOu00

Plus I'm SURE that the steel and other Chinese components are of REALLY high quality and will last a long time...

Supposedly, there are a lack of welders in the Bay Area. Maddening.

Go figure

Off topic: All the granite stonework used in construction of Fort Point, the structure under the Golden Gate Bridge was imported from China, including to cool spiral staircases in 1850's.

And the Cooper River bridge in SC...



I guess the tower thing is the new fashion in bridge building!


I was IN that Loma Prieta earthquake--it really bounced me around, too! We had no power for days, I was the only one on my block with phone service (cell phones were not common back then) , and I got to know many of my neighbors. We cooked outdoors and watched a battery operated television that could barely pick up Dan Rather's CBS news. The house I was in was built on shocks and was earthquake-resistant so there was no structural damage, but damn, it was like being inside a giant pogo stick! There were a few disturbing aftershocks, as well...!

Amazing that it has taken so long to get that bridge fixed. Many more would have died on that pancaked overpass, too.... but that was the first day of the (cancelled) World Series, so a lot of people skipped out of work early to go watch the game...!

and he left pretty quickly to get home in the City...he said the GG bridge was completely empty, he counted maybe 10 cars...nobody wanted to be on it. Quite understandable!