Caltrans dismantles 504-foot long section of old Bay Bridge

Updated Mar 3, 2016

Screen Shot 2016-02-15 at 7.37.19 PMThe California Department of Transportation recently dismantled a massive chunk of the old Bay Bridge in Oakland.

According to Caltrans, the department finished up a major project at the beginning of the month in its three-year demolition of the old Bay Bridge as it cut loose the 504-foot long, 2,500-ton steel truss and lowered it onto waiting barges.

The $140-million process of bringing down the bridge, built in 1936, is a lengthy one, with implosions last November and a series of more implosions coming October and November of this year.

“Last week’s truss lowering was a text-book example of good engineering and safe construction practices,” Caltrans Chief Deputy District Director for the Bay Area Dan McElhinney said. “And November’s implosion was a model of environmental stewardship that we would like to replicate as we finish the job of removing the old bridge.”