San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the Nation's Second Busiest

Bolt Problem Won’t Delay San Francisco Bridge’s Opening. (The New York Times, 8/15/2013)

Excerpt: The new stretch of the bridge is equipped with the latest in antiseismic design. But in March, 32 in a batch of 96 high-strength steel bolts holding shock-absorbing devices called shear keys snapped, a failure that Steve Heminger, the chairman of the committee, later described as “catastrophic.” 

The defective bolts are being replaced with steel cable saddles. Last month, transportation officials said they would postpone the opening of the bridge until all the saddles were installed, pushing the opening date into December at the earliest. But some experts, including the bridge project’s chief engineer, favored the Labor Day opening because they argued that the new bridge, though incomplete, was already safer than the existing one.

Flashback to 1989



Bay Bridge History.  (Groundbreaking for the bridge took place on July 9, 1933.)

No audio.  And the video doesn't stay focused on its subject, or so it seems, but still fascinating to view.