Twenty-four years after the Loma Prieta earthquake damaged San Francisco’s Bay Bridge, the newly completed span opened on September 2 to glowing reviews. The world’s largest Self-Anchored Suspension Span (SAS) employed a highly complex process–called load transfer—to shift the weight of each of the 35,200-ton decks from the temporary steel that supported them to their final location. The bridge’s main tower is the signature element of the new East Span, which replaces the old Bay Bridge from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island. The original bridge section will require three years to dismantle.
Facts:
• At 2,047 feet, it is the tallest self-anchored suspension span in the world
• A single mile-long main cable is connected to either end of the bridge to support the bridge’s weight
• 200 steel suspender ropes are attached to the span’s main cable and roadway
• The main tower’s foundation is anchored by 13 concrete pilings driven 200 feet into San Francisco Bay’s bedrock
• New span has 10 traffic lanes
• The bridge will be lit with 48,000 LED fixtures that will illuminate lanes in the direction of travel
• Cost of the eastern span replacement: $6.4 billion—one of the most expensive public works projects in history
