Workers find Bay Bridge crack; Shutdown could last

Source: Associated Press via Houston Chronicle

SAN FRANCISCO — Crews working on a seismic retrofit of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on Saturday found what authorities called a "significant crack" in the eastern span that could keep the California landmark closed beyond a planned holiday weekend shutdown.

During an inspection, workers discovered a problem with a steel link that helps hold up the bridge's eastern portion, senior bridge engineer Ken Brown told the San Francisco Chronicle. The link — part of a network of eight similar pieces — is about two inches thick and was cracked halfway through.

"The crack is significant enough to have closed the bridge on its own," Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney said at a news conference Saturday night. "We have to make this repair before we reopen the bridge."

Ney added "it's very possible that this could prevent us from opening Tuesday morning," when the work week resumes and the bridge had been set to reopen.

The 73-year-old bridge was shut down Thursday night so a section of the eastern span could be cut out and replaced with a new double-deck section that will connect the bridge with a short detour.

Read more: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/hotstories/6605324.html

I don't even want to think of what could've happened on Tuesday with all that traffic.

:scared:

part of the Bay bridge was tragic and sure didn't help those of us with bridge phobia's. A little scary that something that big can get cracks.

(((shudder))))

one crack shouldn't lead to failure.

the piece of steel that will be used to repair it has arrived in Oakland (after being fabricated in Phoenix) and they will hopefully have it fixed in time for Tuesday morning.

They still have to fix it. It might have been quite a while before the next scheduled inspection.

50 California St, as I recall...

I had driven down 880 and over the bridge a few hours prior.

Not sure how one would determine that online.

State operated bridge.

The Golden Gate is operated locally by the Golden Gate Bridge District, which consists of three counties.

At this point he might just take you up on that. Some of us actually have to drive on that bridge.

Which would make it state.

Guess I won't be going up to The City (from San Jose) to play tomorrow after all (all forms of public transit will be utter chaos). :(

Haven't noticed anything special as far as traffic goes driving around this weekend (if you avoid the bridges at least).

I imagine BART's going to be a zoo. :(

I heard it was somewhat but not terribly crowded on Friday.

That old bridge was far stronger than the one they're building. Reading what the original bridge was designed for in comparison to the new one, they should have not spent the money on the new one. Even the other engineers are saying the same.

They're dealing with unknown loading situations. It's hard to know just what the forces are on a particular bearing. Cracked half way through is not a nice vision.

The reason they are replacing the bridge is because they CANNOT retrofit it. No matter how strong they make the structure, it's foundation is not up to modern standards.

They retrofitted the entire western span, the eastern span is a different design and they could not retrofit it to withstand the earthquakes it needs to withstand.

It was on the channel 7 Bay Area tv website. It's not something that couldn't have been retrofitted. In fact I know one of the mechanical engineers who initially retro'd the bridge. I'm also one of "those engineers".

The silt was too thick for the builders to reach bedrock back when it was originally built, so they drove massive wooden pilings into the mud to hold the bridge up. After more than 75 years of service, those pilings are now rotting away and are being eaten by boreworms.

Once you move beyond the foundation, however, the above poster was correct. Steel structures are far safer than concrete structures in earthquakes. Steel can bend and flex with the shaking. Reinforced concrete has a small amount of flexing ability, but will shatter and fail much sooner than steel would. The choice to go with concrete was one of economics...steel is much more expensive today than it was in 1933.

The result of the replacement will be a new bridge that is stronger and safer than the old one it's replacing...in its current condition, but is weaker than the Bay Bridge was when it was new, and is weaker than an all-steel replacement would have been.

you ignore the foundation.

pretty big caveat. :sarcasm:

oh, and that poster is an engineer. :banghead:

but overall he had a really good point. :wtf:

My point was simply that properly maintained steel bridges are safer than concrete bridges in earthquake zones. The problem with the old Bay Bridge is in the foundation, and not in the structure above water. The above-water structure could be easily retrofitted, but the point is moot since the foundation is shot.

You point out that the point is moot, they posited that it was still valid.

That was what annoyed me.

I used to have the reverse commute (San Francisco to East Bay) and even the reverse frayed my nerves every day.

Good luck, Bay Areans! :hi:

Twigs, as in past the exurbs, suburbs, hills, and sticks.

When I complete my Hall of Fame for the DIY junkie - J-B Weld will be near the top of the list.

I know this is off-topic, but more seriously it shows the value of regular inspections and this needs to be part of budget.

economic downturn. check..... war & climate change & natural disasters, oh my...check.....RW crazies getting bolder, check..... cats & dogs, sleeping together, ....

yep, end of an empire...eh?


yikes, let's hope President Obama has his duct tape handy! This shit needs some fixin' !

http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5geDUvZfc7dzGJd8oa6hV7msLnuEwD9AHV0NO0

Crumbling infrastructure indeed.

That bridge has been worked on and maintained like nobody's business.

If our national infrastructure was as well cared for as our bridge, we would have very few problems.

The special focused on bridges, dams, water pipes, levies. It was scary!

As long as they don't have to pay for it

he would be more useful in that role than his current day job.

had the crack because I didn't want to sit in traffic waiting to cross? My relief meant people in California are being inconvenienced instead of me. But I am not taking pleasure at their misfortune, just glad it is not me. So what is the verdict?

the only way on or off the entire Delmarva Peninsula would be north through Wilimngton or south to Norfolk through the bridge-tunnel. :scared:

But it often creates a nasty back up when they do that.

http://abclocal.go.com/kgo/story?section=resources/traffic&id=7002425

Caltrans is now predicting it will take an extra 24 hours to complete an emergency repair job on the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Caltrans now says it will be at least Wednesday morning before the Bay Bridge can reopen, following the discovery of a major crack in a support beam....

"Headlines tomorrow ought to be that we made this thing work," said Bob Alvarado with the California Transportation Commission. "Secondary headline ought to be that we have some other problems facing us on the bridge."

Sorry, Bob, headlines tomorrow will be "Commute descends into utter chaos". People planned for Friday. Many took the day off. No one planned for this, and few have extra days off. :scared: Local news is trumpeting, among other things, the addition of an extra ferry from Marin that can carry 725 people. Well over 200,000 use the Bay Bridge. FAIL. Meanwhile, BART will be running longer trains, which begs the question, "Why don't they just do that every day instead of packing people into human sardine cans?" :eyes:

Stuff ain't free.

The platforms at the stations are not long enough to accommodate longer trains. Many trains, however, are much shorter, especially on the Fremont-Richmond line, which at least used to run 3-car trains. Trains that cross the Bay through the Transbay Tube are usually longer (with 8, 9, or 10 cars).

In any case, the bridge is now open to traffic, though the new section has a speed restriction. I don't know if it's a formal limit or merely an advisory. I haven't driven over it; I've just heard a bit about it on the radio.

as opposed to 5, 8 and 9 car trains where everyone is jammed in?

i don't think the poster was arguing for 15 car trains (which any BART rider knows is not possible).

I'm a little confused as to what the original work was that shut down the bridge over the holiday. Were they simply retrofitting the original bridge for it's own sake or doing something related to the new bridge?

I don't know if this is a permanent part of the new bridge, or simply a temporary span to allow dismantling part of the old bridge. I think it's the latter.

I believe the crack was in a different area.

I wonder how long it will take to fix it and are there others?

EMPIRE BUILT ON SAND - Businessman allegedly poured inferior concrete into key projects

Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle, 07/09/06

Ricardo Ramirez seemed an unlikely success story: At 57, the former Marine Corps judo instructor had spent more than 20 years as a paving contractor and had little to show for it but a long string of lawsuits, business failures and bankruptcies. Then, in...
Concrete contractor cuts deal with prosecutors

Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle, 06/01/08

Two years ago, San Francisco authorities blamed a local businessman for orchestrating a fraud scheme that resulted in tons of substandard concrete being used in public structures. But the fraud case against Ricardo Ramirez crumbled earlier this year when...
SAN FRANCISCO - Faulty concrete alleged in 2 city projects - Muni Third Street light rail, retrofit of Twin Peaks reservoir

Jaxon Van Derbeken and Michael Cabanatuan, San Francisco Chronicle, 05/13/06

The defunct concrete plant whose owners are charged with supplying substandard cement for the Golden Gate Bridge and other public works projects is accused in civil documents of providing faulty concrete to a major Municipal Railway expansion and a...
Owners of concrete firm plead not guilty to fraud, theft charges - inferior material allegedly shipped to big jobs

Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle, 05/12/06

In a costly and potentially dangerous case of alleged fraud, a San Francisco cement company passed off inferior concrete as stronger, more durable material, and it was used in critical structures in the Bay Area -- including retrofit work on the Golden...

Ramirez started turning out low-priced, locally produced concrete for projects that included earthquake retrofit work on the Golden Gate Bridge and the Bay Bridge. By 2003, his Pacific Cement venture was supplying a third of the concrete used in San Francisco's public works projects.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2006/07/09/MNG9JJRI8K1.DTL#ixzz0QV3xLBZ9

We won't drive over the Bay Bridge