Cost of Bay Bridge 'Fix' Escalates

The cost of 'fixing' the seismic stabilisers on the new San Francisco Bay Bridge has increased 2.5 times to US$25 million. The Californian Transport Authority (Caltrans) is quoted as confirming the installation of 142 high strength tendons, each made up of more than 2,000 steel strands, stretched over steel saddles to clamp the shear key seismic stabilisers onto the new Bay Bridge replacing the effect originally intended from the long rods, which began failing when under load, reportedly as a result of hydrogen contamination due to corrosion.
The escalation in cost is said to reflect the complexity of the design for the "unique, custom fix". Caltrans says negotiations are continuing to determine who will ultimately pay for the remedial work. Caltrans is still testing samples from the other 2,200 high strength rods and bolts to decide whether they will also need replacing. So far it has identified 700 for replacement.