Winds Could Push Bay Bridge Closure
Planned closure for Labor Day weekend contingent on weather
By JACKSON WEST
Updated 12:23 PM PST, Wed, Jul 22, 2009
Crews are working overtime to get everything ready for a Labor Day event that will effect tens if not hundreds of thousands of people.
No, not Burning Man, you hippy.
The Bay Bridge renovation requires that the section of I-80 connecting San Francisco to Oakland will be closed for the holiday weekend.
The closure, announced months ago, will be four days long, from Friday through the Monday holiday.
A chunk of the current bridge needs be cut out, and a new section added so that traffic can be detoured onto the new span and the old span can be demolished.
It's a high-wire act involving thousands of tons and mere inches of clearance -- and high winds could upset the plans.
If the weather doesn't cooperate, the work will be moved to the following weekend. If that happens the closure becomes a whole new thing. September 11 -14 is a regular late summer/early fall weekend and people will be working on the Friday and the Monday. Even on a holiday weekend, no access to the Bay Bridge will be a big inconveniece. Push that forward a week and that "big" could quickly turn to HUGE.
Photo by Steve Parker.
Jackson West only cares about the BART tunnel, but wishes the workers luck regardless.
Copyright NBC Local Media
First Published: Jul 21, 2009 1:46 PM PST
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