American Civilization

Last Tuesday  the San Francisco Bay Bridge was closed.  A 5,000-pound steel beam
and two steel tie-rods crashed down on the upper level of the bridge.  These parts
had been holding together a key support structure for the bridge.  Fortunately, only
3 vehicles were damaged and no one was hurt.  But, the commute between San
Francisco and the East Bay has been disastrous for many drivers.

The Bay Bridge connects San Francisco and Oakland with a tunnel through Yerba
Buena Island.

The bridge, which  is 8.4 miles long, originally opened in 1936.  It suffered damage
in the 1989 earthquake here and continuing construction has been trying for the
last 20 years to make necessary earthquake-safe repairs.  The part that broke
was a temporary structure that was part of that process.

Reportedly, a half a million cars travel across the bridge daily.  And, now all of those
cars need to find another way to get across the bay!

I’m enjoying that people are using public transportation in great numbers.  One
way to get across the bay is BART, a subway which goes under the water.  Many
here are not in the habit of regularly using BART, but ridership records have been
broken this week as people leave their cars at home and take the subway.  Last night
I was returning from San Francisco at 11:30 p.m. and there was standing room only
on BART!  That’s very unusual for the car-loving American public.

While work on the bridge is happening ’round the clock, it’s not clear when the
bridge will reopen.