Bay Bridge Remains Closed on Tuesday, Bay Area Commuters Seek Alternatives

The San Francisco Chronicle reports the Labor Day-long Bay Bridge construction project will not be finished by its posted deadline of Tuesday morning at 5 a.m.

The Bay Bridge, which has been closed since Thursday, September 3rd, to create a temporary detour on the bridge's east span during the Labor Day holiday, fell off its purported deadline when bridge inspectors spotted an inch-wide hole in an eyebar on Saturday. Officials update the new opening time for the Bay Bridge for Wednesday at 5 a.m.

The original span construction will be completed by Tuesday at 5 a.m., but the eyebar repair will cause the Tuesday delay. Special parts had to be made overnight and flown into the Bay Area from an Arizona-based welding company, Stinger Welding. From the airport, the CHP escorted the shipment to the Bay Bridge construction site.

The original Labor Day Bay Bridge project involved cutting out a 300-foot-long span out of the bridge and sliding in a temporary connector piece to make a half-mile-long detour. Once traffic is established, the construction crew will be able to demolish the excised portion and erect a new permanent, retrofitted span in its place.

Construction crews had given an extra day of cushion on the span project, but the repair project was completely unexpected. The Bay Bridge had not been inspected since 2007, as inspection requires the bridge to be fully closed. Inspectors spotted the crack on the east span. They do not know how long the crack has been there, but evidently for some time, as the crack had rust.

For Friday's commute, BART offered 24-hour service to make up for the workday commute. However, for Monday's commute, BART will only run extended service during peak commute hours.

Bay Area commuters without the option of the Bay Bridge on Monday will have to choose between a few alternates: Golden Gate Bridge, San Mateo Bridge, Dumbarton Bridge, Richmond-San Rafael Bridge, BART, and CalTrain, and ferries. Bicycling, carpooling, and telecommuting are other options. However, the Bay Bridge is the most-traveled traffic artery in the Bay Area, as it connects the East Bay to San Francisco and the Peninsula.

Additionally, the Labor Day outage was publicized well in advance, and this Bay Bridge closure update has been delivered with under 24 hours warning.

Bay Area motorists are advised to allow extra time to sit in traffic, avoid peak commute hours, and keep a close eye on the Bay Bridge Closure updates, either by the official website or via Twitter. Bay Area motorists can also use the 511 website or toll-free phone number to keep an eye on up-to-the-minute gridlocks and road delays.

SFGate, "Bay Bridge won't reopen on Tuesday"