The new Bay Bridge

[myosh_tino]

But the strange thing is that I see CalTrans have offices and trucks on the Carquinez Toll Plaza and Bay Bridge Toll plaza I never knew it was really managed by BATA.

Just to clarify, the BATA uses the toll revenue from the 7 bridges to fund operations and maintenance which is performed by Caltrans.

From wikipedia...
"In August 2005, the California Legislature expanded BATA's responsibilities to include administration of all toll revenue and joint oversight of the toll bridge construction program with Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission."

"As part of these activities, BATA funds the day-to-day operations, facilities maintenance, and administration of the bridges."

[ZLoth]

From Sacramento Bee:

Bay Bridge's troubled China connection
How Caltrans' choice of an inexperienced company left structural doubts and cost taxpayers

The Chinese company hired to build key parts of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge had never built a bridge.

Shanghai Zhenhua Port Machinery Co. Ltd., after all, was a manufacturer of giant cranes for container ports.

The California Department of Transportation agreed to contract the company known as ZPMC in 2006 because it had established a reputation as fast and cost-effective, offering savings of about $250 million compared to the competing bidder.

Bridge officials were racing to finish the span, pushed years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget by political squabbles and construction delays. Fearful that the old bridge might not survive a major quake, they wanted speed and savings.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[pctech]

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive. Looks like this will a very big headache for Caltrans and ultimately the taxpayers of CA.

[cpzilliacus]

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive. Looks like this will a very big headache for Caltrans and ultimately the taxpayers of CA.

Lesson learned?

Here's one - do not hire any firm to fabricate large structures like this unless everyone on the job is fluent in the English language.

[ZLoth]

Especially make sure that they understand that "requirement" is not the same as "suggestion".

[kkt]

Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive. Looks like this will a very big headache for Caltrans and ultimately the taxpayers of CA.

Lesson learned?

Here's one - do not hire any firm to fabricate large structures like this unless everyone on the job is fluent in the English language.

Low Bid Ain't Everything

[ZLoth]

From SF Gate:

Bay Bridge flaws: bad welds, delays cost many millions extra

Caltrans paid hundreds of millions of dollars over the original bid price for work on the Bay Bridge eastern span that was plagued by shoddy welding and completed more than a year late, state documents reviewed by The Chronicle show.

In agreeing to pay the extra money, Caltrans accepted responsibility for much of the delay, the documents show - even though bridge officials have publicly blamed bad welding done at the Shanghai factory of China's largest maker of heavy machinery.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[ARMOURERERIC]

After having Leyland Yee, a SF state assemblyman/senator busted for smuggling in/out weapons to Al Quida for the Chinese mob.  I would wonder if he had his hand in any "lay off China" pressure.  He was effectively the #3 Democrat in the state.  Even with the weapons trafficking indictment, he got 400K voted for State SoS in last weeks primary.

[bing101]

Its Crazy now we have two bridges Carquinez and Bay Bridge exposed for the same steel issues. under the deck.

[Mr Downtown]

Lesson learned?
Here's one - do not hire any firm to fabricate large structures like this unless everyone on the job is fluent in the English language.

Wait.  How is language involved here?

[roadfro]

Lesson learned?

Here's one - do not hire any firm to fabricate large structures like this unless everyone on the job is fluent in the English language.

From my read of the article, I wouldn't say that fluency of English wasn't the major factor. More so, if you're going to hire a contractor to do a major and unusual fabrication job, you have to make sure that they are familiar with and embrace the fabrication and quality control procedures.

[hm insulators]

From Sacramento Bee:

Bay Bridge's troubled China connection
How Caltrans' choice of an inexperienced company left structural doubts and cost taxpayers

The Chinese company hired to build key parts of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge had never built a bridge.




Bridge officials were racing to finish the span, pushed years behind schedule and billions of dollars over budget by political squabbles and construction delays. Fearful that the old bridge might not survive a major quake, they wanted speed and savings.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

So instead of the old bridge that might not survive a major earthquake, we have a new bridge that might not survive a major quake?

Uh, can somebody tell me what's wrong with this picture?

Or maybe the better emoticon is  .

[ZLoth]

From Sacramento Bee:

Do hidden cracks imperil Bay Bridge?

The welding code and construction contract for the suspension-span roadway of the new San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge each contain a universal rule: "No cracks."

That rule applies to any new steel bridge and is particularly important for a "fracture-critical"  bridge such as the new span, which opened last fall. Fracture-critical bridges can break, because some of their parts lack redundancy or backup. If a weld crack grows larger, causing such a part to fail, all or part of the roadway could collapse.

In 2008, the no-cracks rule put the California Department of Transportation in a worrisome bind. The Chinese firm hired to build the roadway routinely produced cracked welds that proved difficult to fix. Facing rising costs and increasing delays on a $6.5 billion bridge that was already years behind schedule and billions over budget, Caltrans sought advice about its options from a highly regarded expert in how metal fractures. He said some cracks can remain without compromising safety.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[bing101]

Criminal Investigation of Caltrans construction of Bay Bridge.

http://abc7news.com/traffic/sen-calls-for-criminal-investigation-into-bay-bridge/223903/

[ZLoth]

From SF Gate:

Caltrans muzzled Bay Bridge critics, report says

Caltrans sought to silence engineers who voiced concerns about cost overruns or construction defects on the new Bay Bridge eastern span, forcing several of them from the project, according to an investigative report prepared for a state Senate committee.

Eight engineers who either worked for Caltrans or had contracts with the state agency had to leave their posts, as did a ninth who worked for the bridge's builder, according to the report released Thursday by the Senate Transportation and Housing Committee.

Several engineers criticized the quality of welding work on giant deck sections and tower components that began in 2007 at a factory in Shanghai, while others balked at costly change orders that they saw as benefiting the bridge's lead contractor.

Caltrans has said cracks were found in numerous welds in deck sections made by Zhenhua Heavy Industries Co. Ltd., known as ZPMC. But it says they were not a safety concern and that the welds have been repaired.

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[ARMOURERERIC]

There is talk that Caltrans was ordered by officials, including elected ones and maybe even Brown to sweep this under the table so that it would not engender more opposition to high speed rail and all the jobs that would result from that project.

[bing101]

http://www.fresnobee.com/2014/08/05/4054950/am-alert-criminal-charges-for.html?

More Details to this scandal at the Bay Bridge.

[ZLoth]

From SF Gate:

Latest defect: Bay Bridge tower rods sitting in water

Nearly every one of the 423 steel rods that anchor the tower of the new Bay Bridge eastern span to its base has been sitting in potentially corrosive water, Caltrans officials said Tuesday – one of the most serious construction defects found yet on the $6.4 billion project.

Several of the high-strength, 25-foot-long rods inspected after the first signs of trouble appeared last month were found to be submerged in several feet of water, in part because not enough grout had been pumped into protective sleeves to keep them dry, officials told members of a bridge project oversight committee in Oakland.

"I am a problem solver,"  the bridge panel's chairman, Steve Heminger, said after the meeting. "This is another problem – I certainly wish we would stop finding problems to solve."

FULL ARTICLE HERE

[bing101]

Damn its 1 month after the 6.0 American Canyon Quake and we have a new episode of the Bay Bridge Reality show. The argument prior to the 2014 Napa Quake was that both the East Bay Bridge and Carquinez/Al Zampa may not even withstand a 6.0 quake. now rust was at play here and the realization that there are other Norcal faults at play besides the Hayward Fault and San Andreas that could destroy this bridge.

Dang its been 25 years since Loma Prieta took out old East Bay Bridge.

[kkt]

Dang its been 25 years since Loma Prieta took out old East Bay Bridge.

"A quarter of a century.  Makes a girl think."  -- Marilyn Monroe, Some Like It Hot

CalTrans should have left the old east span in place.  It would be a handy bypass route for when the new span falls down or needs emergency closure.

[TheStranger]

CalTrans should have left the old east span in place.  It would be a handy bypass route for when the new span falls down or needs emergency closure.

Several problems with that idea:

- The new bridge is single-deck while the old east span was double-deck.  While it's not impossible to have a ramp configuration to have both connect at Treasure Island, the net effect would be a new bottleneck there due to a capacity shift.  (And leaving the old bridge closed except for detour purposes does not mitigate any needed maintenance to keep that span serviceable)

- The old span was specifically taken out of service because of the expense to bring it to modern seismic safety standards - why a new east span was even considered in the first place (though the cost to build that east span, as noted, ended up being way more).

[kkt]

CalTrans should have left the old east span in place.  It would be a handy bypass route for when the new span falls down or needs emergency closure.

Several problems with that idea:

- The new bridge is single-deck while the old east span was double-deck.  While it's not impossible to have a ramp configuration to have both connect at Treasure Island, the net effect would be a new bottleneck there due to a capacity shift.  (And leaving the old bridge closed except for detour purposes does not mitigate any needed maintenance to keep that span serviceable)

- The old span was specifically taken out of service because of the expense to bring it to modern seismic safety standards - why a new east span was even considered in the first place (though the cost to build that east span, as noted, ended up being way more).

I was attempting to make a joke about how the new span is in more danger of collapse than the old one was.

[TheStranger]

I was attempting to make a joke about how the new span is in more danger of collapse than the old one was.

LOL.  Totally get where you're coming from!

I'd almost agree, but I still vividly remember what happened in 1989.

[kkt]

I remember it too.  I was in Seattle by that time, but wondered if any of my family were on it (they weren't).  But just because one section of the old one collapsed doesn't mean it's not safe with the strengthening that was done shortly after the quake.  And it definitely doesn't prove that the new one is safe.

[andy3175]

Continuing on...

http://www.mercurynews.com/ci_26916804/offficials-scoff-at-price-tag-hiking-path-along

Bay Bridge officials are looking for a cheaper way to build a 2-mile trail along the western span after a study estimated the project would cost a whopping $400 million to $500 million.
... Toward that goal, the toll authority's oversight committee on Wednesday will consider authorizing a $10 million engineering study to assess more affordable alternatives and options to pay for them. ... Interest in building a path some 2 miles across the western span -- between San Francisco and Yerba Buena Island -- has picked up since September 2013, when the $6.4 billion new eastern span opened with a popular hiking and biking trail. ... Trail advocates say it doesn't make sense to build a trail just half way across the bay. A path all the way between Oakland and San Francisco, they say, would prove popular with tourists, bike commuters and recreation enthusiasts.

A study by the toll authority and Caltrans came up with six design options for attaching to the bridge a new 12-foot-wide path. Each would cost between $400 million and $500 million, officials said. One alternative included adding 12-foot-lanes on both the north and south side of the bridge, one for trail users and the other one for Caltrans maintenance vehicles. The other five options call for a single 12-foot-wide path added to either the north or south side.

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2014/11/11/san-francisco-oakland-yerba-buena-island-bay-bridge-bike-path-temporarily-closes-cyclists-happy-workers-extending-trail/

Starting this week, the new Bay Bridge bike path will be closing periodically as crews continue to tear down the old span, but cyclists are willing to put up with it since the work is extending the trail to Yerba Buena Island. ... "We understand they're going to have to do some temporary closures of the pathway related to the demolition of the old bridge and then eventually related to the construction of the touchdown portion of the bike trail," said Dave Campbell with Bike East Bay. He said eventually it will be worth it to be able to get all the way to the island. "It's beautiful. It's one of the nicest bike facilities our public servants have built. They definitely raised the bar. We're going to expect a lot more good things out of them in the future," he said. The path is expected to touch down on the island and be open permanently next summer.