Massive Section of the New Bay Bridge Foundation Passes Through Panama Canal

Update: Tower Footing Arrives

March 8, 2007 – After passing through the Panama Canal some two weeks earlier, the Lucky Logger barge crossed the Golden Gate at dawn on Wednesday, March 7, carrying its precious cargo: a massive footing box for the tower portion of the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. Construction crews will soon place the steel box on top of piles driven deep into the floor of the Bay to create a sturdy foundation for the East Span tower.

Massive Section of the New Bay Bridge Foundation Passes Through Panama Canal

Oakland, February 22, 2007 – An enormous section of the marine foundation for the Bay Bridge’s signature span — equivalent in size to a basketball court — recently crossed through the Panama Canal en route to its final destination in San Francisco Bay.

Fabricated in Corpus Christi, Texas by Kiewit Offshore Services, the steel box will provide the framework for the final marine foundation (T1) of the tower portion of the new Bay Bridge’s Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) span. When completed, the 525-foot SAS will be the largest single-tower self-anchored suspension span in the world.

“The shipment of this critical portion of the last marine foundation for the SAS represents a major milestone for the new Bay Bridge,” said Will Kempton, Chairman of the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee (TBPOC). “It represents the last major construction element of the final marine foundation for the bridge’s signature span. When the foundations have been completed in about a year, work will begin on construction of the tower.”

The steel section is expected to cross through the Golden Gate and arrive at the construction site within the next few weeks. When it arrives, it will be lifted into place by a special catamaran barge designed specifically for the project. It will then be welded to the steel shells surrounding 13 concrete piles. The piles, which were driven using a multi-story footing template, extend 196 feet below the waterline to anchor in bedrock. The entire steel footing box will be encased in concrete to make up the tower foundation, which will measure 85 feet long, 73 feet wide, and 21 feet thick. The foundation will weigh 2100 tons.

Work on the other marine foundation for the SAS, to the east of T1, is nearing completion. This foundation (E2) is comprised of twin steel and concrete structures to support the separate east and west-bound road decks of the SAS. Work on the marine foundations is anticipated for completion in 2008. The land foundation for the span’s western end, where the single main cable loops under the roadbed, was completed in 2004.

For access to high-resolution photos of the passage of the footing box through the Panama Canal, please visit: www.dot.ca.gov/panama/ on the web or contact Caltrans Public Information Officer Bart Ney at the number listed above.