A Bridge Built to Sway When the Earth Shakes

[cpzilliacus]

N.Y. Times: A Bridge Built to Sway When the Earth Shakes

SAN FRANCISCO – Venture deep inside the new skyway of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, and it becomes clear that the bridge's engineers have planned for the long term.

At intervals inside the elevated roadway's box girders – which have the closed-in feel of a submarine, if a submarine were made of concrete – are anchor blocks, called deadmen, cast into the structure. They are meant to be used decades from now, perhaps in the next century, when in their old age the concrete girders will start to sag. By running cables from deadman to deadman and tightening them, workers will be able to restore the girders to their original alignment.

[Henry]

This is a neat idea! How they waited until now to build it is beyond me.

[cpzilliacus]

ENR: Final Strand of Bay Bridge Cable in Place