Old San Francisco Bay Bridge Pier Set For Implosion Early Saturday Morning
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) — The largest remaining pier of the old eastern span of the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge is set for demolition early Saturday.
The San Francisco Chronicle reports Friday that the bridge will be shut down for about 30 minutes starting at 6:45 a.m. or 7 a.m. Saturday.
The six-second implosion is scheduled to happen early to take advantage of slack tide, limited wildlife activity and light traffic. It could be pushed back to 1 p.m.
Caltrans says that a wooden and steel mat placed atop the concrete pier will keep debris from flying onto the new span when nearly 20,000 pounds of dynamite are detonated.
Bay Bridge traffic will be stopped for 15 minutes before the implosion. The bicycle and pedestrian paths on the south side of the span will close starting Friday night. BART is expecting delays.
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