Cable Snaps on SF - Oakland Bay Bridge

The San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge was shut down over Labor Day weekend for seismic retrofit repairs. Crews slid an entire section of the bridge out and slid a new one in. However, during an inspection of the bridge, crews discovered a cracked support strut (pictured) that forced extra repairs and caused the bridge to open hours later than originally planned.

To fix the cracked strut, crews wrapped a custom-made steel saddle, which acted like a brace around a person's knee, around the link to redistribute stress away from the area. That was attached to another saddle, set lower down the Bay Bridge span with steel tie rods.

When the crack was first found, crews said that the bridge would have to remain closed until the crack was repaired. With the original repair gone, crews are back to square one.

The parts of the span's overhead steel support structure fell around 5:30 PM. Three vehicles were hit by the debris, and the passengers in one vehicle were shaken up but not injured.

Although no statement has been made about the timespan for the closure, if indeed it were the fixed portions from the Labor Day repair that failed, based on the previous estimates during the Labor Day weekend, it would seem that it will be days before the bridge is repaired.

An indefinite closure of the Bay Bridge would severely impact the Bay Area commute.