Aboard the steadfast Zhen Hua 17, four behemoth hunks of our new Bay Bridge arrived 6 days early from China last week, greeted with thunder and lightning at Oakland’s Pier 7. This baby’s gonna cost lit-er-ally double than the initial plans projected. Makes us wonder what could have been done if we just, you know, rearranged some hunks of the old Bay Bridge instead of building a whole new east wing.

Students enrolled in a recent grad course within Berkeley’s College of Environmental Design were asked to play out this very pipe dream. Ideas included a “Park above the Bay” (rock-climbing wall, swing sets, the whole nine yards), a functioning mid-Bay farm, a bird habitat, and several schemes for cutting edge, enviro-savvy hotels.

If only our grad students had ninja-ed their way to China and swapped the engineering plans with their own more innovative and utopian dreamscapes. Maybe the aesthetic integrity of the designs would have almost compensated for the new six dollar toll fee to get across the bridge.

Lest we leave you on a downer, there have been rumbles about a possible bike path on the Bay Bridge’s western expanse, stretching from Yerba Buena to the city. As of now, a 15-foot wide bike/pedestrian path has been paved on the new east wing.

Image Source: F.d.W. under Creative Commons
Design fantasies for obsolete Bay Bridge span [SF Gate]

Yesterday, Professor Abolhassan Astaneh said the Bay Bridge has not been safe since the eyebar repair that had to be performed over Labor Day weekend.

“You have to shut down this bridge immediately,” said Professor Astaneh.”There’s no doubt about it.”

Astaneh describes keeping the bridge open as a “criminally negligent” act. Shit son. So for once we’re actually glad we have no means of transportation with which we might cross the Bay Bridge on any regular basis.

The statement comes after the bridge’s emergency closure and repair, and a fatal big-rig accident earlier this week.

Image Source: laffy4k under Creative Commons
UC Prof: Bay Bridge Should Be Shut Down [KTVU]
Earlier: The Bay Bridge Is (Not Actually) Falling Down (Yet)

Bad news for lovers of driving into San Francisco and uncrowded BART trains; the Bay Bridge is currently closed indefinitely after pieces from a repair made over Labor Day weekend came crashing down and hit three cars. The incident took place late Tuesday afternoon and was coincidentally in the same location as a critical flaw that was discovered and repaired during the bridge’s Labor Day  closure.

No one was injured, but these incidents don’t do much to inspire confidence. Even those who will eventually develop the nerves of steel required to get back on the bridge will have to BART it or plan out a different route for this morning. Longer BART trains will be running to account for the influx in riders.

Image Source: larfo via Twitpic
Bay Bridge closed after repair falls apart [SF Chronicle]
Earlier: Bay Bridge Finally Cracks After Years of Emotional Strain

This is a teeny bit old, but we think it’s cool enough (albeit kind of unlikely to come to fruition) to post about anyway:

Ronald Rael, a Berkeley professor of architecture, has come up with a plan that would turn the now-unused section of the Bay Bridge into a park and other stuff that you can’t drive on, like a bicycle pathway, rental residential areas, swimming pools and tennis courts.

The plan, he says, was inspired by similar (successful) efforts to re-purpose bridges and rail infrastructures in Manhattan and Europe, renowned centers of elevated bridge culture. Naysayers, of course, point out that the whole reason that section of the bridge is no longer being used for its original purpose is because it’s not exactly seismically safe. What else is new?

In any case, we think it’d be pretty sweet to someday be all, “Yeah, come to our house on the Bay Bridge. We can kick back and enjoy our potentially literally killer 360-degree panoramic views over a glass of merlot.” Are we right?

Image Source: DIKESH.com under Creative Commons
UC Planners Envision “Bay Line” Park on Old Bay Bridge Span [Streetsblog]

Hey, if you were the Bay Bridge, you’d probably break under the pressure of being a very important bridge, too. We guess it’s probably not really as bad as all that (we hope) and we’re fairly certain this has happened before. Nevertheless, the “cracked eyebar” that was spotted during an inspection on Saturday may throw a significant wrench–and probably myriad other tools–into the bridge’s reopening, which is scheduled for tomorrow at 5 a.m. So if you were planning on traversing that particular mass of metal tomorrow, you might want to develop a Plan B.

Damage to Bay Bridge May Delay Tuesday Morning Reopening [SF Appeal]

Um, of course you do. So get your butt on BART this Friday morning sometime between 6 and 9 a.m. because that’s when they’ll be giving riders free Ghirardelli Luxe Milk Almond Chocolates, along with coupons, which we assume will lead to more chocolate.

You can pick up your goodies at several of the higher-traffic stations, including the Downtown Berkeley station. Hopefully this will make the pissed off commuters who can’t drive over the Bay Bridge a little less vicious. Yeah, in case you haven’t heard about it yet, the Bay Bridge will be closed starting this Thursday at 8 p.m. until Tuesday at 5 p.m. Heads up.

Image Source: slambo_42 under Creative Commons
BART Thanks Riders With Free Ghirardelli Chocolate on Friday [SFist]
Bay Bridge Closure [Bay Bridge Info]

bq. The tanker, which was full of vehicle-ready gasoline, seems to have disappeared. One Caltrans worker at the scene held up his thumb and forefinger an inch apart to describe how big the tanker is now.

The bridge is still open, though, if you’re going to the city. From the CoCo:

bq. Although the collapse has closed Interstate 580 approaching the Bay Bridge, motorists can continue to use Interstate 80 to get to and from San Francisco over the bridge.

Tanker fire destroys part of MacArthur Maze [SF Gate]
Roadway leading to Bay Bridge collapses after tanker explosion [The CoCo]
Section of Highway Collapses in Oakland Due to Overturn of Gas Tanker [Daily Cal]