Gallery: California's Busiest Bridge Has a Serious Issue With Rust
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The eastern, self-anchored span section of the San Francisco Bay Bridge, viewed from the Treasure Island.
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The new eastern span replaces the older, steel cantilever-and-truss bridge that was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
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The eastern span's tower is 525 feet tall.
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At 238 feet and ten lanes, the eastern span is the world's widest bridge.
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The eastern span during construction.
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The port of Oakland in the foreground; Marin County and the Golden Gate Bridge in the back.
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Caltrans is giving one tenth of one percent of the old bridge's steel away to artists---for free.
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The rest gets recycled and sold.
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As they approach Yerba Buena, the two halves of the bridge stack.
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About 800 double-crested cormorants nest in the old eastern span. These protected birds have added significant delays---and costs---to taking down the old span.
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There's not much rain in California, but what does fall could cause the new eastern span's cable to rust.
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The San Francisco Bay is only about 14 feet deep on average, though there are significantly deeper shipping channels.
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The eastern span's roadway is 191 feet above the water.
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The eastern span connects Oakland to Yerba Buena.
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