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TRANSACTIONS NEWSLETTER ONLINE

July 2001
Bridge Retrofit Review Jolts Bay Area

It wasn't an earthquake, but the Bay Area felt a strong tremor in early June when an independent cost review of Caltrans' Toll Bridge Seismic Retrofit Program showed that total costs for seismic safety upgrades to five bridges could run as much as $5.27 billion, $630 million higher than the revised $4.64 billion estimate Caltrans released in April 2001. Both estimates ex-ceed the original 1997 cost estimate for the bridge seismic retrofit program by more than $2 billion.

Rendering of the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Rendering of the new east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Acting in its role as the Bay Area Toll Authority (BATA), MTC contracted with San Francisco-based Bechtel International, Inc. to con-duct the cost review. Bechtel stud-ied plans for replacing the eastern span of the San Francisco- Oakland Bay Bridge, plus strengthening of the San Mateo-Hayward, Richmond-San Rafael, Carquinez and Benicia-Martinez bridges, and the western half of the Bay Bridge.

The current $2 toll on Bay Area bridges includes a $1 seismic work surcharge that was set to expire in 2007. The Bechtel findings should generate more support for pending state legislation, Assembly Bill 1171 (Dutra), which would allow for an indefinite extension of the $2 toll.

"The Legislature is already half-way through its session, which creates a tight timeframe to solve the funding shortfall," said MTC Manager of Legislation and Public Affairs Randy Rentschler. "We also must convince the state to contribute its fair share of the funding needed to make these state-owned bridges safe."

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