SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS) -- High winds blew across the Bay Bridge Friday for the first time since crews repaired a broken saddle and several tie-rods that crashed down on the span last month.
Strong winds were among the factors that broke the saddle-contraption, placed on the span to help shore-up a cracked eye-bar discovered over the Labor Day Weekend.
“We’ve tethered all the pieces there. If anything happens that would cause them to come loose, they would not fall,” said Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney.
That was one of several modifications since the accident in October that led to another bridge closure for several days, Ney said.
“We’ve isolated the tie rods—the things that actually failed last time—so that they don’t vibrate and produce a situation where they could potentially fail again.”
Cameras were also installed for real time monitoring.
Once this storm passes, Ney said Caltrans would inspect the tie rods even more thoroughly than they normally do using a bore scope to look deep into the assembly.
That tool can detect even tiny movements of just a couple millimeters, Ney said.
(jro)
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