Caltrans, MTC Weigh Risks Of Delay In Opening Bay Bridge
SAN FRANCISCO (CBS/AP) -- Caltrans and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission officials must consider the risks in deciding whether to delay the scheduled Labor Day weekend opening of the eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge or keep traffic flowing over the old span.
Caltrans will tell the commission this week what it intends to do, but bridge officials say that even with questions about the integrity of more than 2,300 steel rods used in the building of the new span, it is more likely to withstand an earthquake better than the bridge in operation since 1936.
Among the bridge's design flaws are its foundation, which Caltrans' chief engineer on the eastern span project, Brian Maroney, told The San Francisco Chronicle (http://bit.ly/10UwmcB ) is too weak to resist a powerful earthquake centered in the San Francisco Bay Area.
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