Dozens of California Bridges May Have Eyebar Issue

SACRAMENTO, Calif. -- A legislative staff report obtained by KCRA in Sacramento shows that 56 bridges in California contain the same structural element that led to a recent accident and closure of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge.

The bridges are of varying design and age, but they all contain an element known as an "eyebar."

Last fall, state inspectors discovered a 2-inch-wide crack in an eyebar of the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. That led to a temporary repair, which later failed and caused a piece of metal to land on the bridge's roadway.

PDF: Agenda, Report For Joint Hearing

California Department of Transportation Director Randell Iwasaki is scheduled to give an update on the Bay Bridge's status at a joint Assembly-Senate hearing Tuesday afternoon.

A staff report to be discussed at the hearing shows that 55 other bridges in the state from Humboldt County to Los Angeles also use eyebars.

This article originally appeared on KCRA.com.

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