Bay Bridge East Span Bolt Updates

August 15, 2013 UPDATE

The state Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) today gave a green light to an interim fix to the seismic system on the new Bay Bridge East Span, and determined that the new East Span will open to traffic by 5 a.m. on Tuesday, September 3, 2013, following a five-day bridge closure that will begin the evening of Wednesday, August 28. Visit BayBridgeInfo.org for updates on the closure.

August 13, 2013 UPDATE

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) today set a meeting for Thursday, August 15, 2013, starting at 10 a.m. to discuss a series of new reports on East Span bolt issues and plans for opening the new span to traffic. View the reports and a press release, "Independent Experts Recommend Interim Bay Bridge Fix."

August 1, 2013 UPDATE

• Photos: Saddle Fabrication

July 15, 2013 UPDATE

Two new documents are now available:

• Seismic Evaluation of SAS at E2 Bent Prior to Completion of Shear Keys S1 & S2 (July 15, 2013) (PDF)
• July 12, 2013 Letter to FHWA from TBPOC regarding review of proposal to shim the bearings at Pier E2 (PDF)

July 10, 2013 UPDATE

At a special meeting today of the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), members of the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) briefed BATA commissioners on findings contained in the recently released report on the high-strength steel bolts used on the new Bay Bridge East Span. A key focus was the ongoing effort to retrofit an area of the bridge — a crossbeam known as E2 — where bolts securing seismic gear had previously failed. The fabrication and installation of reinforcing steel saddles is on track to be done by December 10, 2013, with the cost now estimated to be $20 million.

Frieder Seible, a member of Caltrans’ Seismic Safety Peer Review Panel, provided a graphic showing the superior seismic strength of the new East Span design compared to the old East Span, and presented a proposal for an interim fix to the seismic gear at E2 that could move up the opening date for the new East Span.

• Audio: Bay Area Toll Authority, July 10, 2013 (MP3)
• Presentation: Special BATA Meeting, July 10, 2013 (PDF)

July 8, 2013 UPDATE

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) announced today that the previously scheduled 2013 Labor Day weekend opening of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge has been postponed. TBPOC also released its investigative report looking into the 32 bolts that broke on the new East Span in March 2013 and a review of other bolts on the span, along with a series of technical appendices. These materials wil be discussed at a special meeting of the Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday, July 10, 2013, that is scheduled to start at 10 a.m. and will be webcast.

• Report
• Appendices July 8, 2013
• Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) Press Release (PDF)
  
  July 8, 2013

June 24, 2013 UPDATE

A major briefing on the status of Bay Bridge East Span bolt issues and prospects for opening the new bridge is set for a meeting of the Bay Area Toll Authority on Wednesday, July 10, 2013. See the agenda and listen to the webcast at http://mtc.ca.gov/whats-happening/meetings.

June 14, 2013 UPDATE

Members of the Bay Area's legislative delegation this month asked the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) for information about financial incentives established for contractors working on the new Bay Bridge East Span to meet select project milestones by specified deadlines. The TBPOC, in a June 14 letter to legislators, detailed a package of incentives approved in September 2010 for a joint venture between American Bridge Co. and Fluor Corp. related to its work on the self-anchored suspension (SAS) portion of the new East Span, and for MCM Construction related to its work on Yerba Buena Island Transition Structure.

• Letter to TBPOC from the Bay Area's legislative delegation (PDF)
• Letter from TBPOC to the Bay Area's legislative delegation (PDF)

May 29, 2013 UPDATE

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC), which is made up of the chiefs from the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission, today briefed BATA's commissioners on the status of efforts to engineer and construct a solution to problem bolts on the Bay Bridge East Span. Work is underway preparing the concrete cap beam for the retrofit, and the saddle design is nearing finalization. Material to construct the fix is being procured. The retrofit completion schedule and a report on the condition of other bridge bolts will be presented at the July 10, 2013, BATA Oversight meeting.

• Presentation (PDF)

May 24, 2013 UPDATE

Crews have begun prep work for the saddle fix to the broken bolts on the new Bay Bridge East Span, including chipping of concrete and drilling holes at the site of the bolt problem — a concrete cap beam that sits underneath the decks at the eastern edge of the self-anchored suspension span. See photos here.

May 22, 2013 UPDATE

The Bay Area Toll Authority will be briefed on the Bay Bridge East Span bolt problem and other issues at aspecial meeting set for Wednesday, May 29, 2013, starting at 1 p.m. at the MetroCenter Auditorium.

May 15, 2013 UPDATE

• California Senate Transportation and Housing Committee hearing, with an update on the Bay Bridge East Span bolt issue, May 14, 2013.
  • Video Archive
  • Background Paper (PDF)
• Video: Bay Bridge Bolt Test

May 8, 2013, UPDATE

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC), which is made up of the chiefs from the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), Caltrans and the California Transportation Commission, today recommended a fix for the bolt issue affecting the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The recommendation is contained in a presentation to the BATA Oversight Committee. TBPOC also released a letter to the California Division of the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) asking their team to “provide an arms-length review” of TBPOC’s analysis and strategy for rectifying the bolt problem. Also released today is a report containing a metallurgical analysis of the broken anchor rods. A special BATA meeting has been set for May 29, 2013, to address the bolt issue.

April 24, 2013 UPDATE

The Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee today provided the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) with an update on the status of the East Span bolt issue. The presentation can be viewed to the right.

April 10, 2013

Commissioners of the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA) were briefed today on the effort to diagnose and repair steel rods — referred to as bolts — used in the construction of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. The briefing took place at the regular monthly meeting of the BATA Oversight Committee. An update on the repair effort was provided by representatives of the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC), which is overseeing the East Span project and is made up of three agencies: BATA, the state Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the California Transportation Commission (CTC).

Three inches in diameter and measuring from 9 feet to 24 feet in length, the steel bolts anchor seismic shear keys and bearings to a concrete beam located at the eastern end of the East Span’s signature self-anchored suspension span (referred to as the SAS). The beam in turn caps vertical piers that reach up from the water and help to support the span’s twin decks.

Problems with some of the bolts first surfaced in early March 2013 once the weight of the twin decks was transferred to the SAS’ cable suspension system, and crews began the process of tightening the rods. Engineers are continuing to diagnose the cause and developing a repair plan. Materials from today’s meeting and a prior BATA meeting are posted to the right. Updates will be provided to BATA on a regular basis. Agendas will be posted here.

See also:

• Photos: Fabrication of Saddle for Bay Bridge East Span’s Self-Anchored Suspension Span
• Previous construction updates

Download:

• FHWA's Response to Review Requests of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - Submitted by Vincent P. Mammano, Division Administrator, August 9, 2013
  • Review Letter (PDF)
  • Report (PDF)
• Seismic Safety and Opening of the New San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - Submitted by Frieder Seible, Chair, SSPRP, August 8, 2013 (PDF)
• San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Seismic Retrofit Project, Independent Review of Analysis and Strategy to Shim Bearings at Pier E2 to Achieve Seismic Design Requirements - Submitted by Modjeski and Masters, Inc., August 9, 2013
  • Report (PDF)
  • Appendices (PDF)
• Independent Review of the Seismic Safety Peer Review Panel Proposal to Shim the Bearings at Pier E2 of the New East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge - Submitted by Peter Taylor, P.E., Buckland & Taylor, August 6, 2013 (PDF)
• Letter to Caltlrans From Frieder Seible, PhD, PE Regarding Seismic Safety and Opening of the New San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, July 26, 2013 (PDF)
• Seismic Evaluation of SAS at E2 Bent Prior to Completion of Shear Keys S1 & S2 (July 15, 2013)
  • Report (PDF)
  • Appendices (PDF)
• July 12, 2013 Letter to FHWA from TBPOC regarding review of proposal to shim the bearings at Pier E2 (PDF)
• Presentation: Special BATA Meeting, July 10, 2013 (PDF)
• Report on the A354 Grade BD High-Strength Steel Rods on the New East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, With Findings and Decisions (PDF)
  
  July 8, 2013
  • Appendices
• Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC) Press Release (PDF)
  
  July 8, 2013
• D.O.T. Press Release: Bolt Manufacturing and Delivery Documentation Released (PDF)
  
  June 21, 2013
• June 14, 2013 Letter from TBPOC to the Bay Area's legislative delegation (PDF)
• June 10, 2013 Letter to TBPOC from the Bay Area's legislative delegation (PDF)
• May 29, 2013 Presentation (PDF)
• Summary Timeline of Decision to Follow National Standards For Bolts Set by American Society for Testing and Materials (PDF)
  
  May 21, 2013
• May 8, 2013 TBPOC Press Release (PDF)
• FHWA Letter (PDF)
• Metallurgical Analysis Report (PDF)
• May 8, 2013 Presentation: BATA (PDF)
• Op-ed by Steve Heminger: Bad bolts won’t stop work toward safety
  
  San Francisco Chronicle, May 7, 2013
• April 24, 2013 Presentation: BATA (PDF)
• April 10, 2013 Presentation: BATA Oversight Committee (PDF)
• Memo: March 2013 Project Progress and Financial Update report for the Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program (PDF)
• Caltrans Memo, March 29, 2013 (PDF)
• March 27, 2013 Presentation by Tony Anziano, Caltrans Toll Bridge Program Manager, on Connecting Rod Fractures at Pier E-2 of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge New East Span(PDF)

Audio:

• Bay Area Toll Authority, July 10, 2013 (MP3)
• Bay Area Toll Authority, May 29, 2013 (MP3)
• Press Conference, May 8, 2013 (MP3)
• BATA Oversight Committee, May 8, 2013 (MP3)
• Bay Area Toll Authority, April 24, 2013 (MP3)
• BATA Oversight Committee, April 10, 2013 (MP3)
• Bay Area Toll Authority, March 27, 2013 (MP3)