Workers retrofitting Bay Bridge find crack that could keep SF-Oakland link closed on Tuesday

Crack could keep Bay Bridge closed 1 more workday

SAN FRANCISCO — The 73-year-old bridge that carries commuters between San Francisco and the heavily populated cities to its east could remain closed for a fifth day as crews race to repair a crack in a steel link that holds up part of the span, a state transportation official said Sunday.

A team of workers received the blueprint and materials they needed to repair the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, which carries about 260,000 vehicles a day. But fixing the problem by Tuesday, when the workweek begins and the bridge had been set to reopen, poses “quite a challenge,” said CalTrans spokesman Bart Ney.

“People should be braced for another day of it being closed,” Ney 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 as part of a long-planned seismic upgrade. California transportation workers used the closure as an opportunity to inspect the bridge from top to bottom, and they discovered the crack 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 delay.

“The bridge will be safer when we open it than when we closed it,” Ney said.

The last full inspection of the bridge was in 2007, and the crack likely appeared since then, Ney said. He said he did not believe it was related to the construction project.

Friday was the first time 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 encouraged commuters to stay tuned for updates and to make alternative travel plans.

“We can’t say whether the bridge will be ready to reopen on Tuesday morning,” Ney said. “It’s difficult to forecast.”

Ney said every effort would be made to reopen the bridge to traffic Tuesday. 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.