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An Aesthetic Chernobyl

They've shut down the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in order to complete the new eastern span, the portion linking Treasure Island to the city of Oakland. It's a marvelous illustration of how dysfunctional California government can be.

In 1989, a portion of the eastern span of the bridge broke during an earthquake. Clearly something had to be done, and that "something" is the new eastern span that will open next week, 24 years later. Part of the reason it's taken so long is that the damage was repaired, the bridge reopened, and this gave all of the politicians years and years to fight over a long-term solution.

Meanwhile, every day since 1989, millions of travelers have driven over a bridge that everyone knew would break if there was another serious quake.

Everybody squabbled. Then-Mayor Jerry Brown (Oakland) argued with then-Mayor Willie Brown (San Francisco). The eastern anchorage of this portion of the bridge sits in Oakland, while the western anchorage connects to Treasure Island, which is within San Francisco's city limits. Brown (Oakland) didn't want a new bridge; he wanted the existing structure retrofitted to make it earthquake-safe. Brown (San Francisco) was worried a retrofit and/or replacement might effect real estate on the island. The US Coast Guard threatened to arrest any surveyor of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) who set foot on the island (the USCG maintains a bay traffic control station on the island). Brown (Oakland) tried to insist that if Caltrans wanted to build a new structure, it would have to pay millions of dollars to renovate the Oakland waterfront.

Caltrans, eventually, determined that it was generally cheaper and much safer to build a new bridge rather than retrofit the existing bridge. Arguments raged over this, until finally the option for a new bridge won out.

Around this time, Schwarzenegger was California governor and California itself was in economic freefall. Costs for the new bridge had ballooned over the fifteen or so years leading up to this point, bringing into question the plan to build a new bridge. The decision prevailed, however, because it was decided that a new bridge would better withstand an earthquake, as compared to retrofitting the existing bridge.

To minimize costs, the proposed bridge was a simple viaduct. It was simple, clean, and elegant. Alas, apparently no one in the Bay Area agreed. It was described a "Soviet-style" bridge and "an aesthetic Chernobyl" (my all-time favorite).

You had the spectacle of local officials saying that they wouldn't approve the proposed design, that they'd just let the bridge close. Yes, rather than ensure one of the most-used bridges in the bay area remain open, they decided they’re rather close it than agree with Caltrans’ simple design.

The most inane remark, make by some San Francisco pol, was about how Schwarzenegger's rich Los Angeles friends wouldn't be able to drive up and visit him in Sacramento if the bridge was closed. Never mind that they would probably fly, the implication was that the silly sot didn't know that Interstate 5, just over the hills in the central valley and a near-straight shot from LA to Sacramento, existed. Road traffic between LA and Sacramento wouldn’t give a fig about the Bay Bridge closing.

Bay Area authorities wanted a single tower self-anchored suspension span (SASS) added, a stylistic flourish that added not one iota of functionality to the bridge's design. What it did add was several billion dollars to the cost. To fund this erection, the tolls on every bridge in the bay area (excluding the Golden Gate Bridge, which is under a separate authority) were raised. Driving across the Dumbarton? You're funding the SASS of the new Bay Bridge. Driving across the San Rafael or Benicia bridges? Ditto. Aren't you lucky?

Because the numbers keep shifting, it's hard for an outsider to calculate the cost of adding that SASS to the bridge. It's at least a third of the $6+ billion cost.

It gets even worse. The eastern span has been plagued with quality control issues, up to and including special bolts designed to ensure the bridge doesn't fall down during an earthquake. You know, the very reason this thing was build to begin with. Virtually all of those problems involve the self-anchored suspension span. Thus, adding the SASS increased costs by at least 50% and will result in further expenses to remedy issues with the SASS.

As someone born and raised in San Francisco, I'm happy to see the new eastern span of the great Bay Bridge finally replaced. The project was supposed to be completed before the year 2000, at a fraction of what it will eventually cost. And all of those delays, all of those increases, were driven by politics, not the needs of the commuters using the bridge.

SASS indeed.

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