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Catwalk Installation Complete on East Span

Orange catwalks will serve as ramps for workers installiing bridge cable

Friday, August 12, 2011
The new Bay Bridge East Span reached another milestone this week as workers yesterday completed the installation of catwalks on the self-anchored suspension tower. The fourth and final catwalk was installed on the Oakland side of the tower — known as the main span of the new bridge — joining its approximately 1,000-foot, 29-ton twin installed last month. 

The two latest catwalks complement those placed earlier this summer on the Yerba Buena Island side of the new East Span. The side-span catwalks are somewhat lighter and shorter than their main span counterparts, but are still nothing to sneeze at, weighing in at 16.5 tons each and stretching 600 feet apiece.

Workers travel up and down the four catwalks using harnesses to prepare for installation of the bridge’s mile-long single main cable. Soon crews will build a frame to support the weight of the cable while it is being installed. The frame will also help guide placement of the cable, which will be strung just above the catwalk early next year.

Meanwhile, the signature tower is structurally complete following successful installation of the cable saddle this past May. It will be crowned with a decorative tower head that will bring the tower to its final height of 525 feet and that will be placed once the bridge cable is installed. In July, workers temporarily installed the tower head to help ensure the components fit correctly. Four 30-foot-tall tower head sections were individually raised and subsequently removed in the trial run, paving the way for a successful permanent installation.

With the final deck sections now en route from China, the new East Span remains on track for completion in 2013. The bridge is a key element in a seismic upgrade program overseen by the Toll Bridge Program Oversight Committee, made up of Caltrans, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s Bay Area Toll Authority and the California Transportation Commission.
—Craig Raphael

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Previously:

• World's Largest Cable Saddle Placed Atop Longest Self-Anchored Suspension Span
  May 2011
• Bay Bridge Eastbound Drivers: Prepare for Detour to Begin Memorial Day Weekend
  May 2011
• It's a Bird, It's a Plane...It's a Cement Truck?
  April 2011
• East Span Tower Construction Begins Final Phase With Capping of Legs
  April 2011
• East Span 4x4! Crews Lift Final Four Tower Leg Sections in Four Days
  March 2011
• East Span Now Towers Over Original Bridge
  February 2011
• Thanks to Detours, New Bay Bridge East Span to Open in 2013
  February 2011
• Second Set of Bay Bridge Tower Sections in Place
  November 2010
• Bay Bridge East Span Tower Reaches New Heights
  October 2010
• New Bay Bridge East Span Construction Goes Vertical
  July 29, 2010
• Photos: Historic Lift of Self-Anchored Suspension Tower Sections for the New Bay Bridge East Span
  July 2010
• Photos: Unloading First SAS Tower Sections
  July 2010
• First East Span Tower Sections Arrive in the Bay Area
  July 9, 2010
• First SAS Tower Sections Set Sail For Bay Area
  June 28, 2010
• Historic Lift of First Self-Anchored Suspension Span Section for New Bay Bridge
  February 2010
• More Bay Bridge photos