San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge closed in both directions after cable snaps on upper span
By APTuesday, October 27, 2009
San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge closed
SAN FRANCISCO — Authorities on Tuesday closed the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge after a cable snapped on the upper deck of the span during the evening commute.
The bridge was expected to be closed for at least 24 hours as crews worked to repair the broken cable, said California Highway Patrol Officer Peter Van Eckhardt.
The broken cable and a large piece of metal fell onto the bridge’s westbound lanes at about 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Van Eckhardt said.
The eastbound lanes were closed to traffic at about 8 p.m., he said. The westbound lanes were shut down a short while later as officers worked to take the remaining cars off the span.
One person was shaken up, and at least one vehicle was damaged in the incident, Van Eckhardt said.
The cable snapped near the same section of bridge where a big rig crashed earlier this month.
Caltrans crews arrived at the scene to begin work on the snapped cable late Tuesday.
The closure of the bridge was expected to cause a traffic nightmare during the morning commute. The California Highway Patrol was alerting Bay Area transit operators about the closure so they could try to prepare for a crush of additional passengers Wednesday.
A spokesman for the Bay Area Rapid Transit District said the district would be bringing in extra trains and train operators for the morning commute.
The 73-year-old bridge, which carries about 260,000 vehicles a day between San Francisco and heavily populated cities to its east, was closed over the Labor Day weekend so a football-field-sized, 3,300-ton section of the eastern span could be cut out and replaced with a new double-deck section.
The work was part of a seismic upgrade and had to be completed 150 feet above the ground.
When crews weren’t able to fix the crack that was discovered in the span Saturday in time for the bridge’s scheduled reopening at 5 a.m. Tuesday, traffic was jammed as commuters tried to take alternate routes.
