Organized Labor

Metropolitan Transit Commission: Union ‘Work Crews Hustled Around the Clock’

The overpass connecting Interstate 80 and 580 was re-opened ahead of schedule, thanks in large part to the union construction crews who worked to repair the structure. The connector was damaged in the early morning of April 29 when a gasoline tanker traveling on westbound 80 to southbound 880 toward San Jose overturned and caught fire. The intense heat caused the steel frame of the freeway to soften, and the eastbound 580 connector above collapsed onto the 880 connector, closing two major arterials in the interchange. The two connectors are key elements of what is popularly known as the MacArthur Maze, the multilevel web of roadways distributing traffic going to and from the Bay Bridge.

The Metropolitan Transit Commission’s noted that, “work crews hustled around the clock to remove debris, test the viability of the damaged I-80/I-880 connector and make repairs. A mere week after the meltdown and several days ahead of schedule, Caltrans opened the I-80/ I-880 connector in time for the Monday morning commute. The same day, Caltrans selected a firm to rebuild the I-80/I-580 connector – C.C. Myers, Inc. of Rancho Cordova, Calif., which came in with a low bid of $867,075. The firm bet that it could earn up to $5 million more in bonuses by delivering the job in early June instead of by Caltrans’ deadline of June 27.”

When the section was repaired and reopened ahead of schedule on May 24, Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said, “Thanks to hard, around-the-clock work of Caltrans and C.C. Myers, our local partners and businesses, Bay Area motorists can once again travel through this busy interchange – just in time for the holiday weekend, this roadway will be open in 26 days from when the accident occurred.”

The Governor issued an emergency declaration on April 29 to begin immediate repair and replacement of the interchange in the East Bay. The declaration streamlined public contracting and permitting codes and provided emergency funding to allow repair operations to begin immediately. The emergency declaration also authorized funding to provide free transit services in the Bay Area for Monday, April 30.

Cleveland Wrecking Company began immediately to demolish the damaged section of freeway, and with the help of ACC-West Coast the southbound 880 re-opened on May 7. Caltrans and C.C. Myers, steel suppliers from Pennsylvania and Texas, fabricators in Arizona and Tracy, California, worked around the clock, seven days a week to rebuild the section of freeway and restore mobility for Bay Area motorists.

Bob Hoss of Caltrans said that the image of construction unions as having restrictive work rules that could cause work to go slow was contradicted by the fast work done by union members to repair the roadway ahead of schedule. Many members of the Iron Workers, Carpenters, Operating Engineers, Laborers and Cement Masons were involved in the project.