Thursday, October 29, 2009

Bridge Closed Again -- October 29, 2009


Tuesday during the evening rush hour, a cable and a big piece of metal fell onto the upper deck of the cantilever section of the Bay Bridge. Thank heaven no one got killed. It turned out that the patch that had been applied to the crack discovered during the Labor Day shutdown had failed. Caltrans said it had failed because of the high wind. That is scary. They closed the bridge and refused to say when it might reopen.
Yesterday I took a walk up Rincon Hill on Bryant to see the freeway entrance. The officers were stopping cars and only letting the ones going to Treasure Island proceed. I stopped at the deli to get a banana and a Diet Coke. The clerk said it was very quiet with the bridge closed.
Today I took a walk out Brannan Street, then up the steps to Bryant. Still quiet. The homeless guy at Folsom and Hawthorne said that yesterday business was dead, like a ghost town, and it wasn't much better today. He was hoping the bridge would reopen tomorrow.
Apparently the patch has been put back with more done to strengthen it and keep it in place, but Caltrans says the bridge won't reopen for tomorrow's rush hour. BART has seen a big jump in ridership.
It was very cold both mornings.

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