San Francisco

SF Public Works Assesses Storm Damage to Vital Bridge

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The storm may have passed, but the problems are far from over.

Engineers are still trying to determine just how much damage was done to the historic Lefty O'Doul Bridge in San Francisco.

For the last couple days, crews have been installing a wood barrier to block off the bent handrails on the famed bridge. They've also installed pedestrian barriers to keep people off that walkway.

The San Francisco Department of Public Works tweeted a video of their survey of the bridge from a small boat Thursday. They say most of the damage is on the pedestrian walkway.

"You see that it's very badly buckled there. A couple of the steel beams that are supporting just that sidewalk portion got crunched by the barges and bent,” said Rachel Gordon of San Francisco Public Works. 

In another video tweeted by San Francisco Public Works, you can see the three large barges that hit the bridge being tossed by massive waves on tuesday.

Engineers believe that the Lefty O'Doul bridge is structurally safe, it's the reason why it's still open to traffic.

But there is some concern that the barges may have moved the bridge and affected the drawbridge mechanism.

The concern is whether the drawbridge can still be raised -- a critical question considering the importance of that bridge for baseball fans.

"So, we'll be testing that in the next week or two. We are paying attention that the Giants games are starting up, so we want to make sure, If we lift the bridge, that it's going to come back down,” said Gordon. 

The Lefty O'Doul, or Third Street bridge, is often closed or partially closed to traffic on game days so people can walk to Oracle Park.

There's also a community of house boats up Mission Creek Channel, residents sometimes ask to raise the bridge to get in and out.

The barges that broke loose in the hurricane force winds on Tuesday had been moored nearby at Pier 48.

There's some question about who will pay for the damage to the bridge.

But for now, residents on Friday ran and drove over the bridge -- mostly as usual.

And tourists took in the sights. One of them, visiting from South Florida.

“Found Tuesday's swirling storm eerily familiar,” said Zach Wallace of Tampa Bay.

As someone who's been through a few hurricanes - he passed along some advice for the next major weather event.

"You just have to make sure, especially if you have any back decks or any plants, you gotta get them in, because you don't want your plant flying into your neighbors windows," he said.

The next storm is expected Tuesday.

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