Bay Area bridges

[mr_storms]

A List with Photos of each
Golden Gate:
http://static.flickr.com/2/1834540_cc837719ad.jpg?v=0
http://static.flickr.com/2/1657051_1c770e5c70.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/28/59096938_ff50a9c15c.jpg?v=0
Bay Bridge (new eastern span under construction)
http://back.boom.ru/WallPapers/02/0019.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/2/2130422_a004ac8c71.jpg
http://homepage.mac.com/mpieracci/.Pictures/Photo%20Album%20Pictures/2004-12-20%2016.32.27%20-0800/Image-32CF027F52E711D9.jpg
San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
http://static.flickr.com/25/65264228_b98264c73b.jpg?v=0
http://static.flickr.com/29/48678013_19e51e65b3.jpg?v=0
http://www.72seconds.com/mt/archives/San%20Manteo%20Bridge%20-%20(c)%20Rod%20Boothby%202005.jpg
http://www.america-dreamz.com/californie/paysages/photos/sanfrancisco02-04.jpg
Dumbarton Bridge
http://www.interfacility.com/personalpages/landfill/dumbartonwest/bridgelarge.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/28/49582650_6ccdd387bb.jpg?v=0
Carquinez bridge (new western span recently finished)
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/images/bridges/Carquinez.jpg
http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/images/carquinez_profile_800.jpg
San Rafael/Richmond Bridge
http://www.baylinkferry.com/routepage/richmond.jpg
http://frl.bluehighways.com/images/richmondbridge.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/25/63360093_fdd5ff7fbb.jpg
Benecia Martinez Bridge (2nd span U/C)
http://www.bayareabikes.org/bridge_files/image007.jpg
http://static.flickr.com/25/67956766_b7f6dd95e6.jpg
Render of what It will look like with 2nd span
http://www.mtc.ca.gov/images/bridges/BeniciaMartinez.jpg
Antioch Bridge
http://bata.mtc.ca.gov/images/Antioch-Bridge.jpg
http://carolswebs.com/images/Antioch%20Bridge.jpg

[Rene Nunez]

i had no idea there were so many.I guess it's the same with people who first take a nyc river tour.

[mr_storms]

yep. The other one that surpised me when I went there is pittsburgh. they have a ton of bridges.

[Apoc]

I've never heard of some of these bridges...Nice thread! :cheers:

[kjetilab]

Those bridges are really amazing! And some quite strange looking:)
How long are they?

[mr_storms]

Golden Gate Bridge: 1.7Miles(2.7 km)
Bay Bridge: Western Span 9260ft(2.8km) Eastern Span 10176ft(3.1km)
San Mateo-Hayward Bridge: 7miles(11.2km)!!
Dumbarton Bridge: 1.6miles(2.6km)
Carquinez Bridge: 3645ft(1.1km)
San Rafael/Richmond Bridge: 5.5miles(8.9km)
Benicia-Martinez Bridge: 1.2miles(1.9km)
Antioch Bridge: 1.8miles(2.9km)

[mr_storms]

Locations of all the bridges: Ive entered in the ones that dont already appear on the map
http://img212.imageshack.us/img212/8461/sfbaystd8vc.gif

[612bv3]

Golden Gate Bridge: 1.7Miles(2.7 km)
Bay Bridge: Western Span 2310ft(.7km) Eastern Span 1400ft(.4km)
San Mateo-Hayward Bridge: 7miles(11.2km)!!
Dumbarton Bridge: 1.6miles(2.6km)
Carquinez Bridge: 3645ft(1.1km)
San Rafael/Richmond Bridge: 5.5miles(8.9km)
Benicia-Martinez Bridge: 1.2miles(1.9km)
Antioch Bridge: 1.8miles(2.9km)
That's weird, I thought that both spans of the Bay Bridge are almost 2 miles long.

[mr_storms]

Hmmm your right... Im reading something wrong
Update:
West Span: 9260ft(2.8km)
East Span: 10176ft(3.1km)
Where did i get those inital numbers from lol
Thanks for spotting my error

[hkskyline]

Delay in Bay Bridge construction cost taxpayers, drivers $81M
8 December 2005

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A nearly yearlong delay in construction on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge cost taxpayers and toll-payers $81 million, transportation officials said.

The California Department of Transportation, which announced the figures Wednesday, halted work on the foundation for the span's single tower in January, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged officials to scrap a suspension design for a pair of less-costly concrete viaducts.

Legislators claimed that changing the design of the $6.3 billion span would actually cost taxpayers more because of the delays associated with conducting new environmental and engineering studies.

The governor and the state legislature eventually agreed to stick with the single-tower suspension design, and crews returned to work last month.

"We're in a new world now," said bridge spokesman Bart Ney. "We're in a world where we're actually building the bridge."

[Whiked918]

Delay in Bay Bridge construction cost taxpayers, drivers $81M
8 December 2005

SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - A nearly yearlong delay in construction on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge cost taxpayers and toll-payers $81 million, transportation officials said.

The California Department of Transportation, which announced the figures Wednesday, halted work on the foundation for the span's single tower in January, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged officials to scrap a suspension design for a pair of less-costly concrete viaducts.

Legislators claimed that changing the design of the $6.3 billion span would actually cost taxpayers more because of the delays associated with conducting new environmental and engineering studies.

The governor and the state legislature eventually agreed to stick with the single-tower suspension design, and crews returned to work last month.

"We're in a new world now," said bridge spokesman Bart Ney. "We're in a world where we're actually building the bridge."

Wow I'm so shocked!

Not really, I think I'll be 100 years old by the time the new Bay Bridge is finally built, and I'm 24 now.

[612bv3]

I love the quote at the end! :lol:

I'm not surprised. At this rate, this bridge will open after I graduate from college.

[empersouf]

Ilike the bay bridges and the bay area.

[Whiked918]

http://i9.photobucket.com/albums/a65/whiked918/Picture016.jpg

I took this Bay Bridge pic last month and I just needed to post it some where. :runaway:

[mr_storms]

nice pic!

[Fabio]

:applause:

cool, great compilation.

[Swede]

The California Department of Transportation, which announced the figures Wednesday, halted work on the foundation for the span's single tower in January, after Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger urged officials to scrap a suspension design for a pair of less-costly concrete viaducts.
Finally, the Governator does something right. Or... wait a minute! He messed up! :P

I think I read somewhere that the new span will officially be named after Emperor Norton, any local wanna back me up on this?

[ChiLooper]

Nice

[dmg1mn]

The bay area has some really cool bridges

[612bv3]

MORE PICTURES!!!

Antioch Bridge
http://www.richp.com/pics/aerial-06-20-02/Untitled-7.JPG

Benicia-Martinez Bridge
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/1/19/BeniciaBridge.jpg

Carquinez Bridge
http://www.aigeek.com/photos/2004-biking-around-the-bay/img_0763-x.jpg

Dumbarton Bridge
http://www.clear-prop.org/baytour/119-1902_IMG.JPG

Golden Gate Bridge
http://tomposs.com/aerial/Golden%20Gate%20Bridge%200100-B-2.jpg

San Mateo-Hayward Bridge
http://www.sonicspike.net/flying-pictures/albums/50/images/7626-IMG_0093.JPG

Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/e/e4/RichmondBridge.jpg

San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge
http://www.maryandrichard.com/images/sf_baybridge.jpg

[mr_storms]

very nice...most of those are much better than what I used

[WANCH]

San Francisco's bridges always fascinate me! Though Golden Gate is still the most iconic, I like the one going to Richmond

[OettingerCroat]

yah, my favorite after the golden gate bridge is also the Richmond-San Rafael bridge ;) i like it goes upwards twice, makes the bridge look very smooth and flowing, like the bay area fog

[Phlip]

Hey, this is a great thread, I didn't really get the perspective of where all these bridges were before. What are the road links between Golden Gate and Bay Bridge? Is there a freeway standard route between them? If you wanted to do a quick lap around Golden Gate, Bay Bridge and the Richmond Bridge, how long does it take to do a circuit? And are there tolls on these bridges?

[mr_storms]

All these bridges have tolls in one direction. The Bay Bridge (Interstate 80) and Golden Gate Bridge (US Route 101) meet in San Francisco. A circuit between the three totally varies in time (rush hour or not). Ive never done it, but probably around 45 minutes to an hour without traffic

[612bv3]

Hey, this is a great thread, I didn't really get the perspective of where all these bridges were before. What are the road links between Golden Gate and Bay Bridge? Is there a freeway standard route between them? If you wanted to do a quick lap around Golden Gate, Bay Bridge and the Richmond Bridge, how long does it take to do a circuit? And are there tolls on these bridges?
There's no freeway link between the Golden Gate Bridge and Bay Bridge. If you want to get from the Bay Bridge to the Golden Gate Bridge or vice versa, you might want to take The Embarcadero or Van Ness Ave and Lombard St. I don't know how long it will take to make a lap around the GGB, BB, and R-SRB, but if you want to pay only one toll, take BB West, GGB North, and R-SRB East. All East-West Bound Bridges have tolls westbound and all North-South Bound Bridges have tolls northbound except the Golden Gate Bridge which has the toll on the southbound.

[612bv3]

I think the next new bridge would be a new replacement for the Richmond-San Refael Bridge. I want it to be replaced with a cable-stayed bridge, it would look sweet. :D I want a cable-stayed bridge in the Bay Area so bad.

[OettingerCroat]

^^ yah that would really be cool, richmond bridge is my favorite bridge. unfortunately, any such project will not be proposed for at least the next 25 years, bc CalTrans is spending hundreds of millions retrofitting the bridge as we speak. but i, too, love the idea.

[OettingerCroat]

ok 612bv3, to sort of put things into perspective, the entire complex to replace the richmond-san rafael bridge would be about 7 km (about 4.5 miles) long, and the actual cable-stayed span would make up 4 of those km (or about 2.5 miles) using 4 towers.

it would to be about 57 m tall at the tallest point (or 185 ft), same as the current bridge. it would employ all of the most modern seismic measures to combat an earthquake.

it would have 3 traffic lanes in each direction plus one shoulder, and it would be a single-deck bridge, as in, all lanes on the same level. not like the current one, with westbound on the top and eastward underneath.

the entire project would ring in at below USD 4 billion, more like USD 3.3-3.55 billion. this is before the inevitable price-jacking that the state will conduct throughout the construction process. so yah, it's not exactly an affordable endavour.

but i'd LOVE to see a cable-stayed Richmond-San Rafael Bridge! :yes:

:cheers2:

[612bv3]

I heard last night that there was another hole in the deck on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. If this keeps up, we'll have a new bridge in no time.:D

[OettingerCroat]

omg really?!?! i never heard of that! i sure hope they make a new bidge!

[612bv3]

New hole in Richmond Bridge holds up traffic to East Bay
By Mark Prado
Marin Independent Journal

Yet another hole opened on the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge on Thursday, snarling traffic and prompting officials to plan a new bridge repair project.

At 1 p.m. Thursday, a 1-by-1-foot hole popped open on the bridge midspan at the same spot the span broke Jan. 18.

"What is happening is a new finger joint is not adhering as well as it should," said Bob Haus, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation. "The hole was in the same place."

The metal joint slipped away from the roadbed, creating a small hole in the right, eastbound lane on the lower deck of the span, which forced the closure of the lane.

That backed up traffic on the span, back into Marin and onto Highway 101. The lane was reopened about 4:20 p.m.

"It's a mess out there," said California Highway Patrol Officer Juan Leon late Thursday afternoon. "I don't want to head north to go home because the traffic is so bad on 101."

Caltrans now has plans to redo all 10 of the new finger joints on the bridge that were installed as part of the recently completed $778 million seismic upgrade, Haus said.

"So far only this one has failed, but we want to go ahead and replace them all," he said.

The holes had become a regular occurrence on the span in recent years as crews worked to strengthen the worn and tattered structure that opened in 1956.

The seismic work included the entire replacement of the trestle section of the span on the Marin side, where many holes appeared previously.

While there are no plans to replace the rest of the aging decks, beginning in March or April, the span's roadways will be coated in a high-tech polyester sealant. The work will take a year, cost roughly $25 million and require lane closures. The plan is expected to get approval next week from the Bay Area Toll Authority.

[612bv3]

It sounds like this bridge wont stand against a major earthquake.

[OettingerCroat]

thats pathetic.... the fact that they spent a billion dollars to retrofit a bridge is lame by itself... but then 2 months later the thing is falling apart again? thats even worse.

and knowing that a completely new cable stayed bridge would cost less than 3.5 billion, spending nearly a billion to modernize a decrepit pile of iron is saddening. richmond-san rafael needs to be rebuilt, fast.

i think that as soon as they finish the eastern span of the bay bridge, they should hop right into building a new Richmond-San Rafael bridge. i think that by 2016 when the new bay bridge SHOULD be fully complete, the state will have accumulated the neccesary funds for a Richmond-San Rafael replacement.

[612bv3]

^^They're raising the toll next year, so maybe it'll be enough to pay for the Bay Bridge. Then we can start thinking about a new Richmond and San Rafael Bridge.

[OettingerCroat]

just for those reading this, i read an article that the new Bay Bridge will be open for traffic in 2012. so start holding your breath!!!! :jk:

[612bv3]

It went from 2006, to 2009, now 2012.

[Joshua888]

beautiful!

[612bv3]

Old Carquinez Bridge is slowly disappearing
Piece by piece, engineers will dismantle the 1928 structure

Michael Cabanatuan and Cicero Estrella, Chronicle Staff Writers

Monday, April 24, 2006

http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/25/ba_carquinez253.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/25/mn_carquinezbridge_03_jmm.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/25/mn_carquinezbridge_05_jmm.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/25/mn_carquinezbridge_08_jmm.jpg
http://www.sfgate.com/c/pictures/2006/04/25/ba_bridgexx062ls.jpg

The 1927 Carquinez Bridge is dying a slow, torturous death.

The bridge, which carried eastbound Interstate 80 traffic across the Carquinez Strait for nearly 80 years, was replaced in 2003 by a new span and now is being demolished.

"I wish they'd just blow it up,'' said one person watching the operation, who did not want to be identified. "This is kind of dull. They're being very safe -- slow and methodical.''

That's because the old bridge is one of three bridges spanning the strait between Crockett and Vallejo within yards of one another. The new, two-tower Al Zampa Memorial Bridge sits to the west of the old bridge, and a 1958 span carrying westbound I-80 traffic sits to the east, leaving only so much room for crews to maneuver.

People with cameras and binoculars showed up to observe as crews took apart the bridge. Onlookers gathered on the hills overlooking the strait and on the Crockett waterfront beneath the three Carquinez bridges.

But because of the delicate nature of the operation, it was impossible to see any motion and difficult to see any progress unless you stuck around for a couple of hours.

Crews Monday dislodged a 1.4 million-pound section of span and began to lower it -- from its position 130 feet in above the strait -- to the waters below. From there, it will be placed on a barge and taken to the Mare Island shipyards nearby, where it will be ripped apart and salvaged.

The chunk of concrete was lowered 16 inches at a time. Each 16-inch drop took just 15 seconds, with the four cranes working simultaneously, said Peter Strykers, senior bridge engineer for Caltrans. But it can take as long as an hour to recalibrate the cranes and get them ready for the next drop.

Stryker said the work was going relatively smoothly.

"With these types of operations,'' he said, "there are little hiccups here and there but nothing serious.''

Opened on May 21, 1927 -- the day Charles Lindbergh completed his historic trans-Atlantic solo flight -- the bridge has carried millions of vehicles. But the structure deteriorated over the years, and Caltrans engineers decided it couldn't be strengthened to withstand a major earthquake.

"It's kind of sad to see it come down,'' said Kim Montgomery, a Crockett resident watching the span's slow descent. "But, you know, out with the old and in with the new.''

The bridge was the Bay Area's first modern steel span.

By the time crews called it quits Monday, the span was hanging about 65 feet above the water and was left that way overnight. Workers will resume the lowering at about 7 a.m. today and plan to set the span atop a barge at about 1 p.m.

In November, after its last task carrying eastbound traffic on I-80 while the deck on the 1958 bridge was replaced, demolition crews began removing the roadbed from the bridge, along with some rivets and bolts.

"Work has been going on off and on,'' said Bob Haus, a Caltrans spokesman. "But there have been a lot of days they couldn't work because of bad weather. It's been delayed several times.''

And so, the death of the old Carquinez Bridge will be a long one. The section that is being lowered is the one closest to the Crockett side.

In three to four weeks, Haus said, the Vallejo side span will be similarly lowered to a barge and floated off to a salvage yard. That will leave just the three towers, with their attached roadways, and the approaches to the bridge.

Crews will install temporary support towers on the Crockett side to support the bridge approach during the dismantling. Then, using cranes, they'll remove the three towers and, finally, the approaches. Work is scheduled to be finished in September 2007.

The cost of taking apart the bridge -- essentially in reverse order of its construction, according to Haus -- will cost an estimated $18 million, $10 million more than it cost to build.

E-mail the writers at mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com and cestrella@sfchronicle.com

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URL: http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/04/25/CARQUINEZ.TMP

[mr_storms]

now they just have to replace that other old span...

[612bv3]

Too bad that wont happen for another few decades.

[OettingerCroat]

^^ another few decades?!?!? are u serious??? that other old bridge is hideous!!! :bash:

[612bv3]

The just spent millions on that bridge to make it withstand a major earthquake.

[Scruffy88]

San Fran has some awesome ass bridges. You should add in info about what they are planning to or already are building for the bay bridge

EDIT: I just found the thread for the new bay bridge so never mind