widest suspension bridge in the world<\/a>.<\/p>\nOne of the biggest architectural challenges, Ney said, was physically bridging the design gap between structural longevity, functional use and artistic flare.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis bridge was built out of fear \u2014 fear of an earthquake, fear of death,\u201d Ney said. \u201cThe inspiration was to counteract that fear. When you look at this bridge, you\u2019re supposed to feel better.\u201d<\/p>\n
They started with designs to fulfill \u201clifeline criteria\u201d laid out within the highest seismic safety standards in the state. There were two basic rules: The new landmark had to be able to withstand the largest ground motions from an earthquake, but it also needed to be immediately accessible to emergency-service vehicles following violent tremors.<\/p>\n
Of the roughly 100 other, self-anchored suspension bridges in existence, Ney said a majority only support pedestrians.<\/p>\n
\u201cTo build one at this scale was rare, and then to build one that was record-setting was really rare,\u201d he said, admitting that even he wondered at one point if the groundbreaking plans would ever break ground. \u201cThe Bay Bridge has proven itself, not just with the looks, but with its performance. The scale that this was done is herculean.\u201d<\/p>\n
As a vast team of architects, engineers and transportation officials started brainstorming a structure that could physically withstand extreme ground movement \u2013 jolts that are estimated to occur once every 1,500 years \u2013 local leaders and community advocates wrestled over a way to ensure that the new Bay Bridge was a \u201csignature\u201d design that represented and served the East Bay.<\/p>\n
\u201cParts of the bridge had to be invented that didn\u2019t exist before,\u201d Ney said, explaining that even though the science behind the self-anchored suspension bridge wasn\u2019t novel, no one had previously attempted to construct a structure that could safely span the Bay. \u201cThere were really difficult times when engineering solutions had to come almost out of the ether.\u201d<\/p>\n
The final result was a catenary arch \u2013 the signature curve formed by the single, 32-inch diameter cable holding the reconstructed bridge together \u2013 that refuses to swing, sway or strain while bearing 35,200 tons of steel, concrete and asphalt.\n<\/p>\n
Ney said the Bay Bridge\u2019s architectural genius could not have been built anywhere else \u2013 forged through a uniquely local mix of tragedy, community and ingenuity.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe had to build a brand new bridge in the same footprint as an existing bridge that carried one of the busiest routes in the nation \u2013 all without closing the bridge,\u201d Ney said, recalling the years of heated public debate and strict regulatory oversight that painstakingly slowed construction of the bridge, which\u00a0spans 1,400 feet over the navigable waterway. \u201cAnd then we had to make an icon.\u201d<\/p>\n
Part tour guide, part dream coach, Ney\u2019s job was to explain how such a gargantuan feat was even possible, especially built on a strata of unstable mud near a hotbed of seismic activity.<\/p>\n
\u201cI was the guy that used to sit out in a boat, hand waving for politicians, engineers and anybody that would listen \u2013 over hundreds, maybe thousands of tours \u2013 explaining what we were planning to put in this big hole,\u201d Ney said. \u201cIt was not easy to defend, but I definitely felt like I could throw my weight behind it.\u201d<\/p>\n
The secret to the Bay Bridge\u2019s architectural sauce is hidden deep within its core, where a network of catwalks, staircases and access ways help protect from unnecessary damage, deterioration or disregard.<\/p>\n
Mechanical hums rattle the skyway\u2019s roughly mile-long interstitial space, married with a cacophony of tires thumping over the hundreds of omni-directional, accordion-style joints that are designed to absorb any displacement, rotation or seismic movement.\n<\/p>\n
Ney proudly notes that the eastern span of the Bay Bridge is designed to last 150 years \u2014 twice the life of a standard bridge \u2013 and is outfitted with several components that architects and engineers anticipate will extend the structure\u2019s life even further.<\/p>\n
One inevitability, Ney said, is that the concrete will begin to sag. Secondary anchor points, however, are standing ready to secure new cables to pull the self-anchored suspension bridge taut for another century, or more.\n<\/p>\n
Climate control systems within the belly of the bridge prevent the humid, salty air from compromising exposed portions of the Bay Bridge\u2019s main cable, which consists of 17,400 individual, 5mm wires that each have the tensile strength to suspend a military grade Hummer. Compacted into 137 bundles, that steel had to be meticulously splayed out in order to successfully loop around the roadbed, just before the Yerba Buena Tunnel. Those steel wires were then repacked into the main cable, suspended back over the bridge and self-anchored in cement on the other side.\n<\/p>\n
Twenty hinge-pipe beams were installed inside segments of the roadway, which allow the bridge deck to flex and slide back and forth as the temperature changes or ground shakes, but prevent lateral, side-to-side jolts that could jeopardize the bridge\u2019s integrity.<\/p>\n
Easily repairable, hollow stress points called \u201cfuses\u201d were designed to absorb the brunt of impact when overloaded \u2013 mitigating catastrophic structural damages, similar to a blown fuse at home. Miles of utility lines are funneled through channels and empty hinge pipe beams to protect essential services during an emergency.\n<\/p>\n
\u201cThe idea is that the bridge will potentially live forever,\u201d Ney said. \u201cIf the people that are alive then want to keep this bridge, we built this for them.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"There\u2019s a surreal serenity atop the world\u2019s longest self-anchored, single-tower suspension bridge, crowned by a thick blanket of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":364503,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[56],"tags":[10832,230,228,226,227,3805,179354,2356,4887,229,1915,88,7264,46380,2558,149,3,22178,10836,5284,24513,10838,2628,2987,32904,6145],"class_list":["post-364502","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-arts-and-design","tag-alameda-county","tag-architecture","tag-arts","tag-arts-and-design","tag-artsanddesign","tag-bay-area","tag-bay-bridge","tag-california","tag-california-news","tag-design","tag-east-bay","tag-entertainment","tag-infrastructure","tag-interstate-80","tag-latest-headlines","tag-lifestyle","tag-news","tag-oakland","tag-peninsula","tag-san-francisco","tag-san-francisco-bay","tag-san-francisco-county","tag-things-to-do","tag-traffic","tag-transit","tag-transportation"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364502","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=364502"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/364502\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/364503"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=364502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=364502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=364502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}