New Plan to Prevent Bay Bridge Eyebar Failure
Bay Bridge officials say they have a plan in place to prevent future eyebar cracks on the eastern span. The back up plan includes spending a million dollars on a design for the quick fix.
Not wanting to put drivers through the hassle of closing the bridge down like they did twice last fall, a committee of the Bay Area Toll Authority has okayed paying an engineering firm a million dollars to create a damper system that would reduce the vibrations blamed for the initial crack. Click to Listen
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It was Labor Day of last year when Caltrans engineers discovered it was vibrations from the wind that caused an eyebar to fail, triggering the collapse of steel on to the roadway.
Since then eyebars are regularly checked every three months, and there have been small nicks discovered in the metal that could be a precursor to cracking, they want a plan in place for these dampers to be installed.
Engineers say future eyebar failures are unlikely. The eastern span is slated to be replaced in 2013.
