San Francisco Bay Bridge closed by construction accident - major disruption

San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge was closed Tuesday evening and remained closed today after steel girders and plates collapsed onto the upper deck of the two level span. The debris was part of patchwork repairs made September 5 through 7 after cracks had been discovered in the truss structure of the old span.

This old span is in process of being replaced with a new cable stayed bridge going up alongside.

The whole bridge was closed all today (Wednesday) and at time of writing it is unclear when it will reopen.

It is by far the most important link over San Francisco Bay so there is major disruption during the closure.

Nearby is a BATA map of suggested detours, but they are likely heavily overloaded.

Operated by Caltrans for the Bay Area Toll Authority the 10-lane SFO Bay Bridge is the second most heavily trafficked long span bridge in the US after the PANYNJ's George Washington Bridge over the Hudson River linking upper Manhattan to New Jersey.

The BATA website should have updates:

http://www.511.org/baybridge/default.asp

Major contractor on the job is a local firm CC Myers.

TOLLROADSnews 2009-10-28