The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will open after Labor Day weekend, the Sacramento Bee reported. The California Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) met yesterday and accepted the recommendation of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) that a temporary fix would make the bridge safe for traffic before a permanent repair to its broken-bolt problem (see http://www.roadsbridges.com/bridge-construction-experts-recommend-interim-bay-bridge-fix).
The broken-bolt problem threatened to delay the bridge’s opening, but the temporary fix—involving shimming each of four bearings, enhancing their ability to safely distribute energy during an earthquake—will allow a return to the original plan, which was to open the bridge to traffic the morning after Labor Day. Experts from two outside companies—along with the FHWA—reviewed the shimming plan and approved it.
The TBPOC said the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge was better able to withstand an earthquake than the existing bridge, so diverting traffic onto the new bridge would actually be better for public safety.
Members of the TBPOC said they hoped to have a permanent retrofit for the broken bolts completed by the end of this year.
California transportation officials said the shims—steel plates—needed for the temporary fix were already fabricated and could be installed in a matter of days.
