Too Late For Commute, The Bay Bridge Re-Opens

The Bay Bridge re-opened to traffic at approximately 9 AM PST. A group of CHP patrol vehicles led the first "wave" of traffic onto the bridge. Caltrans had earlier said, in the second of two Monday morning press conferences, that final inspections were complete and traffic was going to be allowed onto the bridge.

Crews struggled with re-fixing the cracked strut, which had originally been found during a Labor Day inspection of the bridge, done while the Bay Bridge was closed for a seismic retrofit. The strut had been strengthened with a sort of "brace," but that fix had failed last Tuesday.

Caltrans theorized that vibration caused by winds and traffic caused rubbing of the metal rods, which failed and caused the patch to come tumbling into traffic. Cars were damaged, but no one was seriously injured.

The failure of the initial fix sent Bay Area commuters into recovery mode. Alternate bridges were used, which caused tie-ups on those other bridges, while BART, Bay Area Rapid Transit, the region's "subway-like" system, saw record ridership last Thursday.

At the same time, many expressed concern that "new fix" was simply the "old fix" with some changes. However, Caltrans has indicated it would likely do daily inspections for the time being by closing lanes during off-peak hours to examine the entire system.