Drivers crossing the Bay Bridge tonight and the
rest of this weekend will share the road with 500 trucks hauling
5,000 cubic yards of concrete to form a foundation on Yerba Buena
Island for the new east span of the Bay Bridge.
The concrete hauling will take place -- weather permitting
-- for 30 to 40 hours. Lane closures in both the upper deck and
lower deck will be required to ease the trucks' access.
Trucks will haul concrete mix produced at plants in
Oakland and San Francisco to the construction site on the east end
of the island, according to Caltrans officials. The concrete will
be poured into a 90-foot deep foundation. The work will complete
about half of the new span's western foundation. The foundation
is expected to be finished in early summer 2004 with the new east
span opening in 2009.
Westbound, the far right lane will be closed from
just west of the toll plaza through the tunnel to just west of Yerba
Buena Island from 9 p.m. tonight to 8 a.m. Saturday and from 10
p.m. Saturday until 9 a.m. Sunday.
In the eastbound direction, the far right lane will
be closed from the San Francisco end through the tunnel to just
east of Yerba Buena Island between midnight and 11 a.m. both nights.
All lanes will be open at other hours, Caltrans
said, but trucks will be entering and exiting the bridge -- loaded
trucks in far left lanes, empty trucks in far right lanes in either
direction -- and could cause delays. California Highway Patrol and
San Francisco police officers will monitor traffic and enforce lane
closures.
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