AARoads Forum

Regional Boards => Pacific Southwest => Topic started by: cpzilliacus on March 06, 2013, 11:47:50 AM

Title: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: cpzilliacus on March 06, 2013, 11:47:50 AM
N.Y. Times: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/us/light-sculpture-is-set-for-bay-bridge.html)

QuoteFor decades the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been considered, when it is considered at all, as a headache for commuters and a place not to be in an earthquake.

QuoteBut that reputation is set to change Tuesday night when the artist Leo Villareal will switch on what is being billed as the world's largest L.E.D. light sculpture. The public art installation, "The Bay Lights,"  will illuminate the bridge's 1.8-mile western span with 25,000 undulating white lights.

[Click URL above (http://www.nytimes.com/2013/03/05/us/light-sculpture-is-set-for-bay-bridge.html) for a video showing the bridge and its lights]
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: djsinco on March 06, 2013, 12:12:26 PM
That will look really cool when the next 8.0+ hits!
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: kphoger on March 06, 2013, 12:27:34 PM
Yeah, I was wondering how some fancy lights would diminish its reputation as a place not to be in an earthquake.  I mean, it's not even in the Valley!  :-P
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: cpzilliacus on March 06, 2013, 07:49:51 PM
Quote from: djsinco on March 06, 2013, 12:12:26 PM
That will look really cool when the next 8.0+ hits!

I have read that the "old" part of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge (the suspension part) was engineered to be pretty quake-resistant from the start.  Not so with the cantilever span part between Yerba Buena Island and Oakland, which is why it is being replaced.
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: djsinco on March 06, 2013, 08:10:39 PM
I have seen bridges and buildings undergoing the renovation work to be "earthquake-proof," and I guess if a big one hits close enough, all bets are off...
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: triplemultiplex on March 06, 2013, 09:17:42 PM
Quote from: djsinco on March 06, 2013, 08:10:39 PM
I guess if when a big one hits close enough, all bets are off...

Fixed it for you.


Beautiful.  I wouldn't be surprised if there's a push to make it a permanent feature of the west span.

One could use that system to spell out messages.  That could be awesome and/or hilarious.
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: djsinco on March 06, 2013, 10:36:16 PM
TY for the FTFY!
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: brownpelican on March 09, 2013, 12:32:02 AM
Those lights look awesome!
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: agentsteel53 on March 11, 2013, 12:13:39 PM
had the chance to drive up this previous weekend and take a look

it's tough to capture its motion in a long-exposure photo, but here it is all lit up.

(//www.aaroads.com/shields/blog/photos/162768.jpg)

couple more photos here:
https://www.aaroads.com/blog/2013/03/11/san-francisco/
Title: Re: Long Stuck in Obscurity, Bay Bridge Will Go From Drab Gray to Glowing
Post by: andy3175 on March 22, 2013, 01:21:18 AM
Great picture, Jake! Looks terrific.

Regards,
Andy