Organized Labor

Bay Bridge Opens Ahead of Schedule 

Photos by Bill Cendak, courtesy of Sheedy Crane & Rigging.
Some photos, as noted, are by Operating Engineers Local 3

Due to the work of highly skilled union construction workers, the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge reopened ahead of schedule on Labor Day after seismic safety repair work was completed over the holiday weekend.

The bridge was closed in both directions to allow workers to demolish a 350-ft. section of upper-deck roadway just east of the Yerba Buena Island tunnel and to replace it with a new seismically safe segment that was constructed on an adjacent site and rolled into place just before 3 am Labor Day.

Caltrans closed the entire bridge at 8 pm Friday, Aug. 31, for the seismic repair work. The Bay Bridge had been scheduled to reopen at 5 am Tuesday, Sept. 4, but on Monday afternoon, Sept. 3, Caltrans announced that the bridge would re-open at 6 pm, 11 hours ahead of schedule.

“We’re tremendously proud to be able to open the bridge early,” Caltrans Director Will Kempton said at a press conference announcing the early opening. “And we are tremendously grateful for all the hard work contributed by many hundreds of dedicated workers, not only at Caltrans, but also by our lead contractor, C.C. Myers, Inc., the demolition contractor Silverado Construction, the crane operators from Sheedy Drayage, the trucking firms that carted debris from the site, and from our partners at the California Transportation Commission, the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), the CHP, and public safety agencies in San Francisco and all around the Bay Area.”

Rancho Cordova-based contractor C.C. Myers, Inc., was also the lead contractor for the repair of the I-580 section in Oakland damaged by a fire earlier this year, also completed ahead of schedule. C.C. Myers praised his crews and subcontractors, saying it was a testimony to teamwork and thinking outside the box.

That teamwork was also emphasized by Operating Engineers Local 3 Business Agent Gary DeRenzi. “Unions work together and there’s a standardized way of working and doing things correctly and safely,” he said. “There’s a solidarity in knowing there will be people on the job that have worked together already.”

About 20 Ironworkers were employed on the project. “The ironworkers did all the rigging. That was an important part of getting it done in a timely manner,” said DeRenzi. Ironworkers cut out the old section of the bridge deck, and rigged the cranes.

Ironworkers Local 377 Business Agent Dan Hellevig said, “I’m very proud of the Ironworkers and their skill and professionalism. They stepped up and contributed. The work was done ahead of schedule in large part due to the work of qualified union labor.”

Other union members on the project included about 25 Carpenters, 15 Pile Drivers, and 25 Laborers, as well as Electricians and Teamsters. Teamsters’ drivers drove the demolished sections to a Caltrans yard in Oakland.

Randy Murphy, a 31-year member of Operating Engineers Local 3, worked on the project for C.C. Myers. He said C.C. Myers had about 11 operators, Sheedy six, Bragg Crane Rental had four operators, and Silverado about 15. Roughly 35 operators worked over two shifts, with some working double shifts. Murphy himself ran a back-up crane as well as a fork-lift to set the pins for the new section. He said his wife, Sherrie, an OE 3 member for 17 years, also ran a loader for C.C. Myers.

“Everyone worked really well together,” Murphy said “Silverado did a great job on the demolition. To watch the way they demoed the bridge out and got it onto trucks—those guys did an excellent job.” He said that the all-union contractor’s owner-operator Rich Riggs, couldn’t have done a better job. “It went like clockwork. There were no injuries for all the hours worked.” Murphy said that while the demolition was being done, the crew that installed the new section was busy getting preparations done, rigging cranes and setting up lights for the night shift.

C.C. Myers, Inc. began construction of the 350-ft replacement bridge January 12, 2007. Over 2,700 square yards of concrete and steel were used in the structure, which weighs nearly 6,500 tons. The new bridge was hoisted by eight hydraulic jacks and moved into position just east of the tunnel opening on Yerba Buena Island. The contractor said that 44 concrete saws worked in harmony to cut the old bridge deck. By 3 pm Saturday the rotating 600-ton main crane on the site had lifted out 21 sections, including a much bulkier side beam that allowed a 300-ton backup crane to roll into the middle of the job to speed up work even more, said Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney.

Caltrans engineers determined that the old section needed to be replaced because it was susceptible to damage if a major earthquake struck, and because the new structure will work better with a temporary detour to be built on the south side of the bridge to replace the current eastern span. The “jack and roll” of the new section was done using a computer-controlled hydraulic system, with only a few inches of leeway. It fit perfectly, said contractor C.C. Myers.

“We knew we could do it,” Myers said. “The people in our organization have that can-do attitude. We’ll get the job done, and we’ll get it done early.” The new section will be part of the new eastern span scheduled to open in 2013.

“It was an amazing accomplishment,” said Caltrans Director Will Kempton, who watched workers inch the new Yerba Buena viaduct into place late Sunday and early Monday. “It was just amazing how smoothly it went.”

The early reopening was made possible by “exceptional execution of fantastic engineering,” said Bart Ney of Caltrans. “The plan was really good, and they just executed the plan flawlessly.”

To help relieve traffic congestion during the bridge closure, local and regional transportation agencies offered extended service. “Though there were pockets of heavy traffic, we avoided regional gridlock this weekend, thanks to the responsive of Bay Area travelers,” said BATA Chair Bill Dodd, who also serves as a Napa County Supervisor. “Transit picked up a huge share of the load this weekend and special thanks go to our partners at BART, the ferry operators and other Bay Area transit agencies.”

During the bridge closure, the westbound lanes approaching the toll plaza were reconfigured, with extended FasTrak-only lane striping, and an additional FasTrak-only lane during peak hours. The reconfiguration is part of a series of improvements to the toll plazas at state-owned toll bridges around the Bay Area this summer, designed to improve toll plaza efficiency and increase the use of FasTrak electronic toll collection.

The East Span, between Yerba Buena Island and Oakland, is part of the San Francisco Oakland Bay Bridge Seismic Safety Projects and is being entirely rebuilt to bring it up to current seismic safety standards.