Fixing The West Coasts Busiest Bridge 1 From 3  

HOW SAN FRANCISCII’S NEW BAY BRIDGE WAS REPAIRED

WITH TRAFFIC FLIIWING, AFTER 32 ANCHIIR RODS SNAPPED.

hen one of the country’s busiest bridges needs repairs, you don’t stop traffic.

Not even when highly publicized reports regarding the failure of 32 anchor rods called into question the new San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge’s ability to withstand an earthquake.

Even with the broken rods (or bolts) on the bridge’s eastern span, the California Department of Transportation’s seismic safety advisers did not want to delay the new East Span’s Labor Day opening.

After all, there were more serious safety concerns about the old Bay Bridge, which was still in use even though it sustained damage by an earthquake in 1989.

The East Span replaces the old bridge span connecting San Francisco to Oakland.

The Federal Highway Administration concluded that temporary seismic elements would make the East Span safe for traffic.

Therefore, inserting large steel plates,

or shims, into each of the four bearings allowed the bridge to open while the retrofit was in progress.

Repair work began in late July 2013. The East Span opened to tramc Sept. 2.

The permanent fix The defective anchor rods were supposed to secure the bridge deck to the concrete crossbeam support.

After extensive collaboration and analysis, engineers designed a fix.

“Almost all our concrete work Fluor Enter prises Joint Venture, Pittsburgh, items were custom, one-of-a-kind scopes that we will probably never see again.”