S.F. Bay Bridge closed after rod snaps, cars hit

[villager]

Source: SF Gate

Bay Bridge closed after rod snaps, cars hit

Michael Cabanatuan, Chronicle Staff Writer


(10-27) 19:15 PDT San Francisco --

Authorities said they are shutting down the Bay Bridge in both directions after pieces of the cantilever section fell during the late-afternoon commute, striking three vehicles on the upper deck, the California Highway Patrol said.

Caltrans officials said the parts that fell were two high-strength rods and a saddle that were part of the emergency repair that delayed the opening of the bridge on Labor Day weekend.

Westbound traffic on the Bay Bridge had been crawling through two open lanes as officials assessed damage to the bridge. Caltrans officials earlier had shut down three lanes on the upper as they assessed the damage.

CHP Officer Peter Van Eckhardt said the parts of the span's overhead steel support structure fell around 5:30 p.m. Eckhardt said the passengers in one vehicle hit by the falling debris were shaken up but not injured.

A chunk of steel lay in the middle of the far left lane of the upper deck and an object that appeared to be a cable was on a Ryder truck dangling from the side of the span.

Authorities have not said how long the closure will last.


Read more: ttp://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/27/BAO81ABJTF.DTL&tsp=1

---

More fun with infrastructure!

[notadmblnd]

1. Wasn't that bridge pretty much rebuilt 20 years ago after the earthquake?

you'd think that the materials would hold up longer than that. Was the steel imported from China?

[Geoff R. Casavant]

2. It collapsed in the 1989 earthquake and was rebuilt

They just recently did some additional corrective work. I don't know if the part that broke today was from the recent work, the 1989 work, or an earlier section.

[Gormy Cuss]

5. It's from the work they did over Labor Day weekend this year. n/t

[NYC_SKP]

9. Yep, it's just cables and connectors related to temporary work done recently.

Neither part of the original bridge nor the future permanent part, if I understand the story correctly.

http://twitpic.com/n7hv3

[burrowowl]

15. Well that fast fix was

rather temporary! Looks like they need to get back to a through inspection and a REAL FIX!

[Auggie]

6. Only a section was damaged and that was repaired weeks after the earthquake

[Auggie]

4. No. It's in the process of being replaced

Years were wasted squabbling about the design.

The steel is indeed imported from China and the subject of controversy due to the discovery of some defects.

[Grinchie]

31. How dare you berate the steel of the WTC Towers!

It's just not patriotic!
:sarcasm:

[CreekDog]

24. Only the Western Span, the Eastern Span where this happened will be replaced

there was no practical way to make the Eastern Span strong enough.

I hope it will last until the new one is built, though it was a travesty that the new span was not built by now (the travesty was how long they dithered on what to do). It's 20 years since the earthquake.

[truthisfreedom]

3. Reconcile: "Bay Bridge closed after rod snaps", "the parts that fell were two high-strength rods"

High-strength rods? Not so much. Man, that shit is scary.

[Bette Noir]

7. Oops.

[OffWithTheirHeads]

8. Ahh, but we got low bid!

Only the "Best and brightest" should run our banks but any old fool can fix our bridges, as long as they do it cheap.

[KamaAina]

10. Welcome to commuter hell

the closure over Labor Day was planned. People took extra time off work. BART ran extra service.

Tomorrow, not so much. :scared:

For non-Left Coasters, SF sits at the tip of a peninsula (known locally as "the Peninsula" :-) ). Two main highways, 280 and 101, run up it. The only other ways into The City are the Golden Gate, already-crowded BART trains, a few ferries, and the now-closed Bay Bridge. Hoo boy.

[Gormy Cuss]

11. Plus the San Mateo and Dumbarton bridges

Those are the two that most East Bayers will use and it will be hellish.

[KamaAina]

12. Well, technically, yes

but they feed into 101 and 280. (Both cross from south of Oakland onto the aforementioned Peninsula.)

[Gormy Cuss]

13. And the new commuters ADD to the already hideous 280/101 traffic

Not to mention the hideous affect it will have on 680/580/880 and other East Bay feeders to the southern bridges.

[CreekDog]

28. look at San Mateo Bridge traffic right now at 1030pm:

it's the long bridge with the bright red and it's a mess right now.

[Doremus]

14. An entrepreneur opportunity?

Helicopter taxis anyone? ;)

[Ignis]

17. Probably a good day to be a boat owner.

I see a brisk trade in unlicensed water taxis. :evilgrin:

[Sirveri]

29. Naw, that's more of a North Bay opportunity.

[Ignis]

16. BART will be unbelievable.

And 880 should be a lot of fun, too.

[CreekDog]

26. A lot of people never watch tv news and don't read a paper, listen to ipods for music

they aren't going to realize the bridge is closed unless they get on a freeway AND notice the Caltrans digital displays telling them the bridge is closed.

last time they warned us for weeks and people still didn't realize it was closed.

tomorrow?

we'll see. i'm glad i live on this side of the bridge (peninsula) but i was hoping to see some East Bay friends this weekend (who aren't that close to BART).

[dana_b]

43. BART wasn't too bad today

but al ot of people probably didn't hear the news. I didn't hear about it myself until I got out of the shower.

Anyway, I think tomorrow will be the real hell. :(

[Techn0Girl]

20. Well actually ....

You can go south to the Dumbarton Bridge or North to the Richmond Bridge, either of which will add 30 minutes to your commute if you time it correctly.

[ChrisF66]

22. San Mateo is closer than Dumbarton

But expecting that detour to add anything less than 90 minutes to what would be a trip across the bridge and into the city is planning on doing the trip at 4a. The whole east bay will be a parking lot tomorrow.

280 will be the least affected. Use 680 to go north/south in the East Bay.

I do field service all through this area; anybody in Berkeley or Richmond aint seein me until they fix the stupid ugly thing

[musette_sf]

23. In reality it will add a LOT more than 30 minutes.

Over Labor Day weekend, I got stuck in HOURS of traffic trying to get back to the East Bay.

And that was at night on the Sunday of the weekend, when it should not have been THAT bad.

With regular work commuters and people going to school, this is really going to be bad.

I will have to do 511 in the AM and do my best guess:

880S to 237 to 101?
Dumbarton?
San Mateo?

At least I have 3 potential routes, but they will all suck.

[Gormy Cuss]

61. Yep. The San Mateo bridge crossing alone is usually 15 minutes at rush hour. Today it was 50.

That's why dipping down to the Dumbarton will look more attractive to some people and BART trains will be SRO. It's a mess.

[musette_sf]

21. Tomorrow's commute is going to suck mightily.

101 is particularly going to suck.

I got stuck in a bunch of cr@p over Labor Day weekend. This is going to be far worse.

[CreekDog]

25. San Mateo Bridge isn't a great option when the Bay Bridge is closed

Withtout the Bay Bridge's 10 lanes, the 6 on the San Mateo fill up mighty quickly.

[Le Taz Hot]

38. Karma for making fun of Fresno

where the average commute is 11 minutes. I'm not giggling. Really. :evilgrin:

[defendandprotect]

18. k i c k

[Flaneur]

19. I was going over the bridge toward Oakland when this happened.

It was on the upper level--going toward San Francisco. I heard about it on the radio as I crossed the bridge.

[tomm2thumbs]

27. Some engineer put their stamp of approval on that

[mackerel]

30. I saw the car on the news tonight...brutal

Commuting is going to be a bitch for a while

[hedgehog]

39. You may have touched on an interesting story.

Typical conversation:

Manager: What's it going to cost to fix?

Engineer: Gajillion dollars to do this, this and this; and three weeks.

Manager: (Whiny tone) But that's too much money, and I want it now.

Engineer: Well, i could do that in a day for a nickel, but it will only last until next Tuesday.

Manager: Well, go ahead and do that.

Seven Tuesdays later:

Manager: It's broken again! I thought we fixed this thing!

(and repeat)

[Grinchie]

32. Hate to offer an alternative to the Nasty Commute predictions, but..

How come nobody on this thread can even remotely imagine just staying home with the family instead of subjecting themselves to a pretty obvious facsimilie of a commute to Hell.

Are people so tethered to the Rat Race and the same old Same Old that they must make it into work, despite the fact that the primary means of access is potenitally unsafe and out of bounds?

Or is it because people feel so disposable that their job would go away if they chose to give the situation time to be remedied and stay home?

To me, if I worked in the City like I used to, I would just call in and say that I would not be coming in until it was repaired, and that would be that.

They would not hold any grudge toward me, and if they did, I'd say "It was fun, but I'll be moving on". Thanks for the Friday afternoon beer parties, and keep in touch.

Your job will wait, no matter how critical you think it is.

[JTFrog]

33. My daughter just takes the Bart.

Goes into work later and has no problems.

:shrug:

[CreekDog]

46. "*The* BART"

i take it you aren't a local. :rofl:

:evilgrin:

[JTFrog]

55. Bah...

No and I wasn't able to get up the nerve to get on it when I was there. I have extreme claustrophobia and just thinking about going underground under all that water got me to hyperventilating, lol.

:blush:

[architect359]

36. For you, sure... For others, maybe not so much.

If you (or anybody for that matter) had the opportunity to stay at home either by taking a personal day off or telecommuting - sure, why not? But if you don't,... it is what it is. You try to get into work and not let the extra stress get you down; you hope that your boss will be cool about the situation; you hope that they do a better job this time around to fix the structure...

Not a lot of us can just toss out a line to our employers '"It was fun, but I'll be moving on". Thanks for the Friday afternoon beer parties, and keep in touch.'

[Grinchie]

49. Actually, their is nothing stopping you from doing just that

If you examine the roots of your compulsory obedience to making it into to work, you will find that in the end, you have the ability to do whatever makes you happy. You certainly are not making your employer happier, because he just takes it for granted in many cases.

The point that I am trying to make is that the general Infrastructure was designed for Cars, and that infrastructure is creaking and moaning from years of neglect, damage from the Loma Prieta earthquake, and obscenely operated at overcapacity almost daily.

Yet, Billions upon Billions of U.S. Dollars are printed for wars in faraway countries that grind through our troops on a daily basis.

Instead of using this Bridge defect as a good reason to stay at home, and maybe catch up with the rest of the world, people would rather victimize themselves by adding more burden to the inadeqaute transit systems.

And yes, I used to commute to SOMA every day for several years. I was the guy that zipped by on a Motorcycle in between the bumper to bumper traffic on the Bay Bridge, rain or shine, calm weather or 50 MPH cross wind. Having the ability to escape that soul crushing commute by having the freedom to move through that mess on a motorcycle kept me sane and alert.

The fact is that your Rat Race Role does not have any more control over you than you allow it to. When people have their will broken to the point where they can't even imagine the possibility the Corporations have won, and have a willing subject to operate their business for them.

[WriteDown]

40. A couple of possibilities....

Some people actually enjoy their jobs. And some people like to save their vacation for planned vacation. I'd rather battle traffic or a minor cold if it meant I could take two weeks off in the winter.

[Gormy Cuss]

41. A lot of jobs won't wait.

That's the reality of the current occupational landscape. Only a relatively few people have the luxury of taking a day off on a whim or working from home without prior preparation. Even fewer people have the luxury of risking being fired over not showing up just because the commute will be extra nasty.

[Grinchie]

50. That's a description of Wage Slavery, and of course it's not "Luxurious"

There is a reason people feel this way.. It's called debt, and the thought that money will make everything right.

I used to be in that mental mode. I did my job, I scurried in to work like a good worker everyday, and I actually thought that I was working toward bettering my position in life. It seemed to be working quite well, until the Software Industry crashed overnight, everything I had worked for suddenly became a crushing burden, and then Enron drove the stake through the California State Government, which was the last employer available in my area.

They took everything from me after I struggled for years trying to retain the home of my dreams. They didn't give a shit. All they saw is how my farm would be better utilized as a subdivision of 20 McMansions. Never mind the food I produced.

It was a great lesson for me. First of all, you start watching every penny like a hawk. Every expense in listed and analyzed, and after a while, the light bulb flashes on and you see what a downright sham the American Way of life really is. It's evident in the spending habits of many American, as well as obvious in the complete lack of connection to Nature.

The truth of the matter is that people have convinced themselves that they need all the bells and whistles to be happy. This is a lie, and the reality is that you can work very hard for yourself, pay yourself, make your own hours, and do what you like, remain healthier and stress free and get the great side benefits of saving craploads of money doing it.

If their is one thing that I've learned is that any job can wait that doesn't threaten any lives. If those jobs can't wait, then they better pay really well, and have a plan B in case a bridge is closed. When employers lay off people, only to dump the workload on the remaining employee, that's when you draw the line and say no. It's the most common ploy used by businesses today, and happenes all the time.

It took a very serious trauma to open my eyes, but it was well worth it. I'm jjst happy that it occurred so early in my life, and I am now able to laugh at the Rat Race and try to spread the word to other people that maybe have a glimmer of self remaining.

[Gormy Cuss]

54. It's nice to be able to step back and reassess your job like that

but the truth is also that when you've made the choices like paying rent or a mortgage, health insurance, having children, loans for colleges and other "bells and whistles" your ability to walk away from a job on a moment's notice may be somewhat constrained.

None of that negates what you said about rethinking your work life and trying to take control of it.

[Retrograde]

42. There are still jobs that require one's physical presence

It's hard to be a remote chef, or waiter, or dental hygienist, or store clerk or bus driver or delivery person or...not everyone who commutes across the Bay Bridge has the luxury of telecommuting, or giving up the pay for those hours if they can't make it in. And in a region with over 10% official unemployment I doubt many people are going to risk losing what they have.

[CreekDog]

45. and BART only runs until Midnight, so if you work in a bar or hospital you're screwed

if you're swing shift, first you're faced with driving to the city in the middle of the day while there's still traffic.

if they would at least run BART 24 hours like they did after the earthquake, there would be a link between SF and the East Bay and currently there is none.

[WriteDown]

47. I never understood that...

Same with the DART in Dallas, only until midnight. Guess they like to encourage DUI's as much as possible.

[Brother Buzz]

48. BART ran 24 hours during the Labor day weekend repairs

[Grinchie]

52. I agree with you. You'd think Bart would be automated by now

After all, we can fire missiles from Predator Drones in Pakistan by a kid in a cubicle at Moffat Field, but Bart can't offer skeleton service for essentials

[CreekDog]

53. Safety regulations don't allow BART trains to run without operators

even though the whole operation of a train is automated (trains are computer controlled including opening/closing of train doors). the operators are there should a train need to be manually operated, should an emergency arise, or more typically, to interrupt the door closings to make sure nobody is caught in the doors when the train begins to move.

[Psephos]

58. Yes, they need operators texting girlfriends and reading tweets. n/t

[CreekDog]

60. goofball n/t

:smoke:

[Grinchie]

51. I saw this argument earlier...

This argument is so ludicrous I can't stop laughing. If they are so important, then their should be a Plan B for the "Hit by a Bus" situation. This applied to me with trade secrets, as well as anyone who has sole knowledge of a process.

Chef, Waiter, Dental Hygeinest, Store Clerk, Bus Driver, Delivery Person.. Give me a break. With 10% unemployment they could hire redundant people for that. Now for Surgeons, Fire Departsment and Police, I agree with you.

As far as giving up pay, exactly how much pay are you giving up as a store clerk, delivery person or waiter? Is it that much that a person can't absorb it? and if not, the real question is why can't you afford it?

If finances are that bad that you can't afford to miss one or two days of work, then something is terribly wrong. What happens when you have no choice in the matter, like getting laid off, or another Loma Prieta earthquake? Nah, that's just to far fetched to consider, right?

[NecklyTyler]

34. Bush's illegal war diverted valuable funds from infrastructure maintenance

Thank you Bush
:sarcasm:

[Psephos]

59. I blamed Bush in traffic court just last week and got my speeding ticket instantly dismissed.

It's the Swiss Army Knife of excuses - can be used on almost anything. ;)

[junior college]

35. I love the chaos of it all

Thankfully I live in the city and work downtown.

[architect359]

37. Do you, really? "Love the chaos of it all"? ...interesting...

[dana_b]

44. how lovely for you

idiot.

[junior college]

57. Sheesh...I guess I hit sore spot. Are you in Tracy or some such place? sorry nt

[hootinholler]

56. Sounds exciting, especially the ryder truck dangling from the side of the bridge.

"A chunk of steel lay in the middle of the far left lane of the upper deck and an object that appeared to be a cable was on a Ryder truck dangling from the side of the span."

;)

-Hoot

[Endangered Specie]

62. What, no demolition conspiracy theories yet?