Crack May Keep S.F.-Oakland Bridge Closed

(AP)  Transit crews scrambled to repair an unexpected crack in the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and finish a long-planned seismic upgrade with just a day to go before the crush of morning commuters.

The 73-year-old structure that carries about 260,000 vehicles a day between the two sides of the bay would remain closed for a fourth day on Monday, and authorities hoped to avoid a fifth on Tuesday.

A team of workers has received the blueprint and materials they needed to repair the crack in a steel link that holds up part of the span, said CalTrans spokesman Bart Ney. But fixing the problem by Tuesday, when the workweek begins and the bridge had been set to reopen, poses "quite a challenge," Ney said.

"People should be braced for another day of it being closed," he said.

The 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. California transportation workers used the closure as an opportunity to inspect the bridge from top to bottom, and they discovered the crack in the link on Saturday.

The damaged link - part of a network of eight similar pieces - is about 2 inches thick and was cracked halfway through.

Caltrans construction manager Mike Forner said the fissure probably wasn't a danger to motorists because the other seven links assumed some of the cracked link's load, but the damage is serious enough to justify a closure.

Friday was the first time that the bridge was closed on a workday since part of it collapsed in a devastating 1989 earthquake. It had been scheduled to reopen by 5 a.m. Tuesday.

Other Bay Area bridges and public transportation systems were able to accommodate extra riders Friday, but since that was the beginning of a long holiday weekend, Tuesday's rush hours could prove more troublesome.

Ney said every effort would be made to reopen the bridge to traffic on time. A steel contractor in Arizona worked overnight to produce the welds needed to make the repairs and rushed the materials to the Bay Area on a chartered jet, he said.

[Illuminated1]

I have to wonder why it has been 20 years in building the eastbay side of the bridge to begin with....74 years ago it took 3 1/2 years to completely build the whole bridge.
With the cost of construction, it seems to me that a totally new bridge could have been built along the bay and this one fixed by now.
This has been a cash cow and should be audited.

[woeisme1]

No. The Bridge was on crack.

[pollroller1]

So let me make sure I understand this. Someone was using crack on the bridge?
Man this story just cracks me up.

[Turbidite]

For woeisme1:
It is meant to secure the bridge in case of a significant seismic event. Preventive maintenance is preferable to a disaster and the subsequent response.

[woeisme1]

Preventative maintainence??? Well it seems had they not been replacing a section of the bridges surface, they never would have discovered this crack.

A half inch deep crack in a 2 inch plate took some time to form. I think it was a disaster waiting to happen and they got lucky to notice it. It was'nt preventative maintainence that discovered this crack.

[woeisme1]

I like how they say the crack poses no threat. Then why bother fixing it? Why was this one of 8 links even installed on the bridge if it was'nt necessary?

Just tell it like it is. The sory does'nt tell us how big the crack is nor how old the crack is. I wonder why? "Does'nt pose a threat" sounds like somebody is covering their arse.