Workers Still Repairing Bay Bridge Crack; Announcement Scheduled for 5 PM PDT

The 73-year-old Bay Bridge is crossed by more than 260,000 cars and trucks a day. The original shutdown was an already ambitious replacement of a 300-foot section of the bridge, and connection to a new S-curved detour.

The damaged link, part of a network of eight similar pieces, is about 2 inches thick and was cracked halfway through. Crews are wrapping a custom-made steel saddle, which acts like a brace around a person's knee, around the link to redistribute stress away from the area. That will be attached to another saddle, set lower down the Bay Bridge span with steel tie rods.

Authorities plan to announce around 5 PM if commuters will have to brave the Bay Area commute sans the Bay Bridge for another day, or if the crack will be prepared in time.

Authorities said that the Bay Bridge crack was not enough to present a danger to drivers, as the other seven links could hold the additional stress. However, they added that the discovery of the crack is enough to keep the bridge closed indefinitely, if not repaired.