New Bay Bridge Span Opens Ahead of Schedule

(Associated Press)

After the California Highway Patrol conducted a final security check and toll takers resumed their positions, the span along with the rest of the bridge reopened Monday night in time for Tuesday morning's commute.

The reopening follows a five-day closure as crews completed striping, railing and other final details on the new gleaming white span.

The section of the bridge it replaces was damaged during a 1989 earthquake and found to be seismically unsafe.

The new eastern span of the brdge was praised as a dramatic safety upgrade over its predecessor and a beautiful example of public art at an inaugural ceremony Monday.

There was no public celebration with tens of thousands of pedestrians and fireworks as originally planned. Instead, after years of delays and cost overruns, the opening of one of the state's most expensive public works projects was marked with a relatively low-key event that did not even include the governor.

Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom, wearing dark glasses, cut a chain with a blow torch to mark the opening after leading those gathered around the bridge's toll plaza in a countdown.

"I hope this is more than just connecting two land masses," he said. "I hope that the progress that's being represented at this moment is for a generation to dream big dreams and to do big things."

The new, self-anchored suspension bridge with its looming, single white tower replaces a structure that was damaged during the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake. It is designed to withstand the strongest earthquake estimated by seismologists to occur at the site over a

"Despite the journey's length, it has been completed before the arrival of our next big earthquake," said Steve Heminger, executive director of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. "And thank goodness for that."

Heminger was among numerous officials who spoke at the event, which included a poem about the bridge by California's poet laureate, Juan Felipe Herrera.

"(This project) has at times inspired me, challenged me, frustrated me and today, after seeing the final product, it impresses me with its beauty, its grace and its strength," said Brian Kelly, who heads the state's Business, Transportation & Housing Agency.

Gov. Jerry Brown, who was closely involved in planning the bridge when he was mayor of Oakland, was out of town and unable to attend the ceremony, said his spokesman, Evan Westrup.

The entire bridge closed Wednesday night so crews could do final work, and they were still striping, putting up signs and putting down roadway markers Monday, said bridge spokesman Andrew Gordon. Some barrier railing also needed to be installed.

The new section of bridge has been under construction for almost a decade and follows years of political bickering, engineering challenges and cost overruns.

James Ghielmetti, a member of the California Transportation Commission, said at Monday's ceremony that the bridge should not have taken so long to go up.

"California must do a better job going forward on all of our public works projects," he said.

In March, more than two dozen rods used to anchor the roadway to important earthquake safety structures cracked after they were tightened. The discovery threatened to delay the bridge's opening by months.

Transportation officials approved a temporary fix last month and voted to open the bridge as originally planned around the Labor Day weekend.

But Gordon said Monday that there was not enough time for a public celebration.

Plans for such a celebration originally called for a bridge walk with more than 100,000 people, fireworks, a half marathon and a concert.