Bay Bridge Skyway Work

For the 280,000-plus commuters who cross the San Francisco/Oakland Bay Bridge daily, the year 2013 can't arrive too soon. That's when the new Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) span is scheduled to be completed, bringing a seismically safer bridge, and one that will handle more traffic. The East

Span portion from Oakland to Yerba Buena Island will be 2.2 miles long and will include the world's tallest single-tower SAS at 525 feet above the water, a 1.2-mile elevated road ("Skyway") and a 15-foot-wide pedestrian/bicycle lane on the south side of the span. It will have single-level parallel decks, allowing motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians open views of the Bay Area. Construction is on target. Here are some key facts of the project:

• Project Cost: $1.43 billion

• Completion Date: The SAS is expected to open to vehicular traffic in late 2013.

• The new span will be the longest single-tower, self-anchored suspension bridge in the world.

• There will be enough steel in the SAS superstructure and tower to construct nearly 10 Eiffel Towers (7,000 tons).

• The SAS tower will stand 525 feet above mean sea level. This will match the height of the tallest tower on the West Span of the Bay Bridge.

• The SAS cable system is 4,600 feet. The suspension cables are 32 inches in diameter. There will be pedestrian/bicycle access.

Source: Bay Bridge Public Information Office