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Bay Bridge to be closed indefinitely
OAKLAND
October 28, 2009 5:23am
• This story UPDATES Tuesday’s story
• Bridge shut down after part of repaired section falls off
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is closed to all traffic indefinitely after part of a Labor Day emergency repair to the cantilever section failed during Tuesday’s evening rush hour.
The California Department of Transportation had no estimate Wednesday morning of when the bridge would be reopened. The bridge is one of the busiest in the nation, normally carrying 270,000 vehicles on the typical weekday.
Chunks of steel and other parts of the repair fell onto the westbound lanes, snapping a steel cable that whipped into a truck, slightly injuring its driver. Two cars were also hit by falling debris.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) said extra trains would be added to help handle an expected increase in commuter traffic.
The roughly three-foot-long piece of steel was part of the section of the bridge repaired over the Labor Day weekend after a crack was found in a steel beam.
The cause of the latest incident was not immediately known.
The cantilever section of the bridge, which is the eastern section of the bridge, was damaged 20 years ago in the Loma Prieta earthquake. It is to be replaced by a multi-billion dollar new bridge linking the Oakland shore with Yerba Buena Island.
Construction of the original bridge was finished in 1936
OAKLAND
October 28, 2009 5:23am
• This story UPDATES Tuesday’s story
• Bridge shut down after part of repaired section falls off
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is closed to all traffic indefinitely after part of a Labor Day emergency repair to the cantilever section failed during Tuesday’s evening rush hour.
The California Department of Transportation had no estimate Wednesday morning of when the bridge would be reopened. The bridge is one of the busiest in the nation, normally carrying 270,000 vehicles on the typical weekday.
Chunks of steel and other parts of the repair fell onto the westbound lanes, snapping a steel cable that whipped into a truck, slightly injuring its driver. Two cars were also hit by falling debris.
Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) said extra trains would be added to help handle an expected increase in commuter traffic.
The roughly three-foot-long piece of steel was part of the section of the bridge repaired over the Labor Day weekend after a crack was found in a steel beam.
The cause of the latest incident was not immediately known.
The cantilever section of the bridge, which is the eastern section of the bridge, was damaged 20 years ago in the Loma Prieta earthquake. It is to be replaced by a multi-billion dollar new bridge linking the Oakland shore with Yerba Buena Island.
Construction of the original bridge was finished in 1936