Replacing the East Bay Bridge

The seismically vulnerable East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge will be replaced with a dual eastbound and westbound, 3.6-km-long structure. The cost of the replacement bridge is estimated at $1.5 billion and the bridge will be constructed by the year 2004. The Bay Bridge lies between the Hayward and the San Andreas faults, which can generate earthquakes of magnitudes up to 7.5 and 8.1, respectively. Four distinct structures will make up the bridge crossing: a low rise post-tensioned concrete box girder near the Oakland shore; a 2.4 km long segmental concrete box girder; a self-anchored suspension signature span; and a post-tensioned concrete box girder that connects to the east portal of the Yerba Buena Island tunnel.