San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge
The San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge, known locally as the Bay Bridge, is a complex of bridges spanning San Francisco Bay in California. As part of Interstate 80 and the direct road between San Francisco and Oakland, it carries about 260,000 vehicles a day on its two decks. It includes one of the longest bridge spans in the United States.
San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge | |
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The western section of the bridge, seen in 2022. Part of the eastern section can be seen near Yerba Buena Island to the left. | |
| Coordinates | 37°49′5″N 122°20′48″W |
| Carries | 10 lanes of I-80 throughout, and pedestrians and bicycles east of Yerba Buena Island (YBI) |
| Crosses | San Francisco Bay via YBI |
| Locale | San Francisco and Oakland, California, U.S. |
| Owner | State of California |
| Maintained by | California Department of Transportation and the Bay Area Toll Authority |
| ID number |
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| Characteristics | |
| Design | Double-decked suspension spans (two, connected by center anchorage), tunnel, cast-in-place concrete transition span, self-anchored suspension span, precast segmental concrete viaduct |
| Material | Steel, concrete |
| Total length | West: 10,304 ft (3,141 m) East span: 10,176 ft (3,102 m) Total: 4.46 miles (7.18 km) excluding approaches |
| Width | West: 5 traffic lanes totaling 57.5 ft (17.5 m) East: 10 traffic lanes totaling 258.33 ft (78.74 m) |
| Height | West: 526 ft (160 m) East: 525 ft (160 m) (SAS) |
| Longest span | West: two main spans 2,310 ft (704 m) East: one main span 1,400 ft (430 m) |
| Load limit | 500,000 |
| Clearance above | Westbound: 14 feet (4.3 m), with additional clearance in some lanes Eastbound: 14.67 feet (4.47 m) |
| Clearance below | West: 220 feet (67 m) East: 190 feet (58 m) |
| History | |
| Designer | Charles H. Purcell |
| Construction start | July 8, 1933 |
| Construction end | November 12, 1936 |
| Opened | November 12, 1936 |
| Statistics | |
| Daily traffic | 260,000 |
| Toll |
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| Designated | August 13, 2001 |
| Reference no. | 00000525 |
| Location | |
The toll bridge was conceived as early as the California Gold Rush days, with "Emperor" Joshua Norton famously advocating for it, but construction did not begin until 1933. Designed by Charles H. Purcell, and built by American Bridge Company, it opened on Thursday, November 12, 1936, six months before the Golden Gate Bridge. It originally carried automobile traffic on its upper deck, with trucks, cars, buses and commuter trains on the lower, but after the Key System abandoned its rail service on April 20, 1958, the lower deck was converted to all-road traffic as well. On October 12, 1963, traffic was reconfigured to one way traffic on each deck, westbound on the upper deck, and eastbound on the lower deck, with trucks and buses also allowed on the upper deck.
In 1986, the bridge was unofficially dedicated to former California Governor James Rolph.
The bridge has two sections of roughly equal length; the older western section, officially known as the Willie L. Brown Jr. Bridge (after former San Francisco Mayor and California State Assembly Speaker Willie L. Brown Jr.), connects downtown San Francisco to Yerba Buena Island, and the newer east bay section connects the island to Oakland. The western section is a double suspension bridge with two decks, westbound traffic being carried on the upper deck while eastbound is carried on the lower one. The largest span of the original eastern section was a cantilever bridge.
During the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, a portion of the eastern section's upper deck collapsed onto the lower deck and the bridge was closed for a month. Reconstruction of the eastern section of the bridge as a causeway connected to a self-anchored suspension bridge began in 2002; the new eastern section opened September 2, 2013, at a reported cost of over $6.5 billion; the original estimate of $250 million was for a seismic retrofit of the existing span. Unlike the western section and the original eastern section of the bridge, the new eastern section is a single deck carrying all eastbound and westbound lanes. Demolition of the old east span was completed on September 8, 2018.