By the end of 2004, the California state legislature did everything but call in the crew from Extreme Home Makeover.
The state’s seismic retrofit program was being torpedoed by cost overruns, and at the center of it all was the San Francisco-Oakland Bay East Span Replacement Bridge. In an effort to save money, talk circled from using concrete instead of steel to ultimately eliminating the self-anchored suspension (SAS) design in favor of a cable-stay or basic skyway bridge. Bridge hearings were held, with experts from around the world contributing testimony.
“They basically said that maybe if (the state legislature) would have chosen a different design route eight years ago it could have saved money,” Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, told Roads & Bridges. “They were saying by the time you got the two-story house fully designed and under construction and moving along, making a one-story house isn’t going to save any money. That finally sunk in to everybody and we really needed to discuss the subject at hand, which was a money problem not a design problem.”
California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger announced an agreement on a plan to complete construction and financing of the Bay Bridge in late June, and the legislature approved it a few days later. Under the agreement the state will stick with the SAS design and contribute an additional $630 million to the total retrofit program to pay for the demolition of the old Bay Bridge, cost increases on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge and increased Caltrans costs of the total seismic retrofit program. The authority over all state toll-bridge revenue in the region was transferred to the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), allowing for cost-effective bonding against future revenue. BATA also assumed financial responsibility for maintenance of the seven bridges once the bridge retrofit and replacement work is completed.
Currently California’s seismic retrofit program—which includes work on the Bay Bridge and the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge—has swelled to an $8 billion price tag. It will cost nearly $6 billion to create the self-anchored suspension bridge alone. Increases in tolls are expected to handle much of the financial burden. Starting in 2007, the fee to cross seven state-owned bridges will spike from $3 to $4, and BATA can raise the price again if it is necessary to complete the work.
“People do not like paying tolls for cost overruns because they don’t think they’re getting anything for it,” said Rentschler. “I think people have been frustrated by the lack of oversight. But there is a lot of civic pride here—a lot. When they talked about this freeway on stilts they weren’t going to accept that. They would pay an extra toll to get something they’re proud of.”
Caltrans was expected to advertise for bids on the Bay Bridge in August. The project is expected to be completed by 2013.