Steel rods that anchor the Bay Bridge eastern span's massive main cable have shifted since they were installed and are now perilously close to sharp-edged plates inside the belly of the new span, a problem Caltrans acknowledges could take months and millions of dollars to fix, The Chronicle has learned. Caltrans engineers say more than 200 high-strength rods could be jerked in a major earthquake into those sharp edges, risking damage to the main cable and possibly threatening the bridge's stability. [...] questions have been raised about the reliability of hundreds of other rods and bolts, a state investigator reported that bridge builders accepted Chinese-made deck sections that didn't fit right, and Caltrans discovered that huge, hollow steel structures that support the road decks leak when it rains. The latest problem came to light when Caltrans inspected the rods that hold both ends of the bridge's nearly mile-long cable at the eastern end of the suspension portion of the bridge to see if they were at risk of cracking. There is supposed to be space between the rods and the sharp steel edges of those holes, but in too many cases, there's not enough room to spare. If that isn't possible, workers will have to somehow widen the openings in 2-inch-thick steel plates to create more room for the rods to vibrate in a quake. Fremier said the could extend until the end of the year, depending on whether the joint venture that was the lead contractor on the bridge project, American Bridge/Fluor, does the work or the project goes out to competitive bid to other firms.
New Bay Bridge Defect Could Be Trouble In Earthquake
Jaxon Van Derbeken, San Francisco Chronicle: Local
Thu, 05/15/2014 - 5:22pm
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