Page 175 - Peterson 85 Years and Going Strong
P. 175

  SF-OAKLAND BAY BRIDGE PROJECT (2002–2013)
Beginning in January 2002, the eastern portion of the Bay Bridge was completely rebuilt. Over eleven years, a total of eight thousand tradespeople worked on the project, which consisted of:
• anew1.3-mileSkywayviaduct
• aself-anchoredsuspensionbridgewitha525-footsupportingtowertoYerbaBuenaIsland(YBI) • atransitionstructureonYBI
• theOaklandTouchdown
• thenewOakland-sidetollplaza.
The complex rebuild was designed to withstand an 8.5 magnitude earthquake. The last of the four contracts was completed on September 2, 2013, when O.C. Jones finished the toll plaza portion and Caltrans officially reopened the new bridge to the public. Complicating the retrofit process was the requirement to keep traffic flowing through- out the duration of the project. To do that, contractors built temporary structures to shift the traffic off the existing bridge and keep commuters going in and out of the city. The complexity of the project, with its political and finan- cial issues and planning woes, prolonged the process from its initial completion target of $250 million in 1995 to a final price tag of nearly $6.5 billion and a September 2013 delivery.
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