What is happening on the Bay Bridge and why?
The Bay Bridge is undergoing a major seismic retrofit, which will also bring it up to current transportation standards, where feasible. Following the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, which damaged a section of the East Span, extensive studies were undertaken to determine whether the state’s largest bridges were seismically safe. As a result of these studies, it was determined that the entire bridge required seismic safety improvements. The San Francisco side of the Bay Bridge (the West Span), required seismic retrofit work; for the Oakland side of the bridge (the East Span) the most cost-effective solution requires the complete replacement of the existing span. Seismic safety work on the West Approach to the bridge in San Francisco involves completely removing and replacing a one-mile stretch of Interstate 80 and three on- and three off-ramps.
