Bay Bridge, Spring 2013

A couple of weeks ago, I visited and photographed the new Bay Bridge again, possibly for the last time before it opens.  It was scheduled to open in early September, on Labor Day weekend, but that was changed this week to early December this year because of the infamous broken bolts issue.

Visually, it looks like the bridge could open on time, as so much has been done since the last time I visited last winter.  The construction elevator, stairways and platforms have been taken down from the tower, as has much of the construction stairways and ladders for the rest of the bridge.  The catwalks on the cables are gone, too.  Even much of the signage has been installed, as in this image, showing the Oakland City Limit/Alameda County Line sign on the eastbound side.

I’ve climbed onto what will be a maintenance platform, hanging out over the bay, looking back towards Oakland.  If you look closely at the base of the vertical concrete columns, you can see small gray rectangles.  Those are 8 foot steel doors for access.  This give a sense of scale in this view.

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Here is the back of the freeway sign on the westbound skyway, looking east.  The tower is clearly visible as well as the existing 1935 cantilevered bridge on the right.  This section of the roadway is already paved and ready for striping.

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Work is still being done painting the main cable bundle.  The main cable has been tightly wound with a steel wire to keep out the typically damp weather on the bay.  This enclosure is to keep the paint from splashing and to keep it warm, too.  Note the high winds on the bay that day pushing against the plastic.

Here is a snapshot of me doing my best to shoot with 4×5 in the 30+ mph winds.

I almost lost the darkcloth (the silver/black cloth used for viewing the ground glass on the back of the camera, by blocking out the ambient light) several times because of the high winds.  We also used the darkcloth to block the wind when not shooting directly into it (as in the view above).  My “assistants” said it was like holding a sail!

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In this view, you can see the ‘cradle-like’ feeling of the suspender cables above, radiating from the top of the 525 foot tower.  The red crane really makes this shot work.

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Here, the early evening light casts a warm glow on the white tower.  This was shot seconds before the sun went behind Mt. Tamalpias.  You can see all the light fixtures on the main cable.  This ought to be a beautiful bridge at night when it’s lit up.

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This twilight shot illustrates how the suspender cables pull the main cable outward from the bridge.  The area just to the right of the white fence is the pedestrian/bike lane.  I know a lot of people who are anxious to be able to be out on the bay without being in a car!  One can see how popular the Golden Gate Bridge is with its access to pedestrians and cyclists, especially on weekends, enjoying the views.  Unfortunately, this access will only go from Oakland to Yerba Buena/Treasure Island—at least at this point, but a bike lane all the way into San Francisco is being studied.  It also won’t be open when the bridge finally is, because the existing bridge is in the way of part of it.  The existing bridge will be dismantled and recycled when the new one opens.

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In this late twilight shot, the lights of the existing bridge are reflecting through the suspender cables, off what is still the steel flooring of the eastbound lanes.  Walking for hours on this hard steel ‘floor’ is really tough on the feet!  At this point, the only lights on the new bridge are the red safety lights.  At this point in the evening, all the workers have gone home, and we have the bridge to ourselves.

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There is still a lot of equipment on the bridge deck, as they still have plenty of work to be done that is not visible up on the roadway bed.  The wind was so strong on this shot, that I had to shoot several 30 second exposures to make sure I got one that worked, even with my escorts holding the darkcloth to block the winds.  I lost about 20% of what I shot in these two evenings due to the wind howling and vibrating the camera.

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I made sure to really soak in the sights and views this visit, after nearly 5 years of shooting the evolving bridge.  I feel this might be my last time visiting the bridge with only a couple other people, in its construction phase.  Even with all its politics and engineering issues, it is still a beautiful structure that will easily outlive us all.  Some engineering problems should be expected on a unique structure such as this.  They will be solved and dealt with.  This new bridge will be another icon of the Bay Area when it’s open and operating.  That’s a testament to those who designed, engineered and built it.

For those of you who do not know, I will be having a book published of my images of the Bay Bridge project coming out this fall, published by Nazraeli Press.  It will be a selection of images shot over the last 5 years.  I will be talking about it here more over the coming months.

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