Busted Bay Bridge Bolts Manufacturer Denies Blame
SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) - The Ohio company that supplied the bolts that cracked on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge said the parts supplied to Caltrans met industry specifications when they were delivered.
An analysis by some of the industry's leading experts has concluded the anchor rods later found to be too brittle to provide support during an earthquake were not defective when manufactured, Dyson Corporation CEO Brian Rawson said in a video statement released Thursday.
"Through this report and mutual internal investigations, it was concluded that the Dyson Corporation met its requirements on fulfilling this order to the specifications requested," Rawson said.
Manufacturer Denies Any Blame For Cracked Bay Bridge Bolts
Thirty-two of 96 seismic shear rods Dyson delivered to Caltrans in 2008 cracked. Caltrans plans to install steel saddles over the 96 bolts as it prepares to conduct integrity tests on 192 other Dyson-manufactured bolts.
Caltrans spokesman Andrew Gordon agreed the broken bolts met the proper specifications, even though they still cracked after being tensioned in March.
"We know in the case of these bolts they were not hard all the way across. They were harder on the outside than in the middle," Gordon said, adding that why
"At this point, we're not interested in playing the blame game. We're interested in making sure the bridge is safe and getting this fix into place."
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