SF-Oakland Bay Bridge closed after rod snaps, cars hit

[Newsjock]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

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.

... 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. (Update: Caltrans now says the bridge will be closed for a minimum of 24 hours.)

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

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Picture here: http://twitpic.com/n7hv3

[Starry Messenger]

1. Holy crap!

Gods I hate that bridge. I hope the people in the vehicles are okay.

[Garbo 2004]

2. Wow! That's not good. At least no one was hurt. nt

[Liberal_in_LA]

3. Glad everyone is ok. Tomorrow's drive is gonna suck

[NYC_SKP]

4. That whole POS section East of Treasure Island has ALWAYS been problematic...

Too bad they didn't do suspension of both sides...

[demosincebirth]

5. Then the Oakland side would look just as pretty as the SF side.

[NYC_SKP]

9. It's my favorite bridge, the suspension side, more than the Golden Gate.

Brooklyn Bridge a very close second.

[deadmessengers]

10. I lived within sight of that bridge for a while

I lived on the Oakland side of the bridge (in Emeryville) for much of last year during a temporary job-related relocation. That bridge, and the bay it crossed, was a lovely, lovely sight to wake up to in the morning.

[marmar]

13. Really? I've always thought the Bay Bridge was ugly......

......ESPECIALLY when compared to that rust-colored beauty to its northwest.

[NYC_SKP]

17. Nah, nice bridge and the light standards are especially keen.

But the diagonal cross-braces are more engineer-like.

Both are OUTSTANDING, but I have a picture my great aunt took driving over the OSFBB showing a model A, and the memories of that black and white photo make it a personal favorite to me.

:toast:

[A HERETIC I AM]

6. They're well along the way of replacing it.

[NYC_SKP]

12. Yep, they're making those sections in my city.

And floating them to SF for erection.

[A HERETIC I AM]

18. Oops! Sorry. I didn't check your profile and didn't realize you live in the area.

Last time I crossed the Bay bridge was in May of '06. Sorry about that.
Drove across it in this, BTW;



Went from Redwood City out to Travis AFB.

[NYC_SKP]

25. Nice Kenworth! Is that a satellite dish up on the sleeper?

SWEET!

No offense taken, and your reply is informative for those less familiar with the project.

:thumbsup:

[A HERETIC I AM]

27. Yeah, it is a Sat dish but it was strictly for internet!

It stowed flat while underway. It was actually mounted on the GenSet box, mounted behind the sleeper. The unit was on display in that shot. Here's the other side;


You can better see the genset unit mounted on the frame behind the sleeper.

Those shots were taken in Tempe, AZ on the campus of the University, but when I drove across the bridge we were coming from a gig done in the parking lot at the Oracle headquarters.

We needed the internet access because of the type of brand awareness and marketing program Nextel was running with that truck at the time. They needed to be able to access accounts for customers, etc. I also took crowd shots and filed a daily report that was sent using the dish.

I actually spent a lot of time on DU using that dish!!!

[trumad]

33. I was involved in the Orignal construction of Oracle headquarters

in Redwood City... Quite a place.

[CreekDog]

31. Dude, you owe us a new bridge

Please don't try to stiff us or nothin.

[A HERETIC I AM]

32. LOL...ok, the check's in the mail.

Hard to believe it took 3 years and 5 months for that thing to snap after I drove past it.

[imdjh]

26. Thank god for Viagra

[NYC_SKP]

28. Sure, Viagra's fine.... Until your rod snaps!

:rofl:

[Arugula Latte]

7. Holy crap!

Damn ... I know what a tough commute that is. Can't imagine what it would be like w/ this problem!

[HughMoran]

8. Yikes!

Somebody is in BIG trouble.

[Tumbulu]

11. We are having serious winds

maybe that has something to do with it.

[proud patriot]

15. it was very windy today

Leaves were flying around like made at lunch recess

[proud patriot]

16. it was very windy today

Leaves were flying around like made at lunch recess

[anigbrowl]

20. nah, this is from a few weeks ago

they were doing major work over labor day including fitting a temporary new span to make room for the construction of the replacement bridge. The BB was closed for several days. Anyway, the night before it was due to reopen they found a crack on one of the structural elements so they kept it closed an extra half day to do an emergency repair.

Looks like the emergency repair wasn't as good as they thought. It's pretty surprising nobody got seriously hurt.

[Tumbulu]

34. They are saying that it was the winds that broke the repair

here is the link : http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/10/28/BA621ABP3G.DTL

[proud patriot]

14. OMG I have a friend coming back from the airport

I'm not sure if it's the oakland airport or SF ..
She was picking up two puppies .

please let her be okay .

[proud patriot]

22. I just remembered the west bound is heading into the city

not coming back ... I still hope no one is hurt

[Gormy Cuss]

24. No reports of anyone hurt but the bridge is now closed.

Your friend may have had a long trip home.

[bridgit]

19. That's some scary shit. I rescheduled a group in the city into next Tues...

I would have been right on the bridge at that time. Amazing. Makes me wonder what they're looking at when they inspect

[Ignis]

21. Whee! BART'll be packed. (nt)

[alittlelark]

23. It's been all over the TV here - in scrolls, live news breaks....

I'm glad I'm not one of the ppl stuck going 15 or so miles an our over the bridge in ONE lane.

[dysfunctional press]

29. shouldn't he be in new york, getting ready for the world series?

and what made him snap, this time?

[Cessna Invesco Palin]

30. Again? Jesus Christ.

Well, so much for going into the City tomorrow.