San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge Reconstruction

The following photos were taken in preparation of the reconstruction of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that was undertaken in 1958 and completed in 1964. This project removed the rails from the bridge that had carried Key System and Sacramento Northern railroad trains and converted the bridge's two-way traffic on each deck with rail on the lower deck to its current configuration of five lanes on each deck.

Caltrans > District 4 > Toll Bridge Restoration

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Before the reconstruction, the lower deck carried two rail lines and three lanes of traffic. The lanes were reserved for trucks and buses with two lanes operating in the peak direction. The upper deck carried three lanes of auto traffic in each direction. The reconstruction required ingenuity and daring engineering. Through the tunnel at Yerba Buena Island, the upper road deck had to be lowered to allow clearance for the high trucks in the outside lanes. The lowering of the road was done while traffic continued to use the bridge. A large hump crept along the road from the east to the west as the deck was lowered. Traffic was required to slow to 15 miles per hour as the work was carried out. Ramps had to be reversed in San Francisco and at Yerba Buena Island and supporting columns had to be removed. The upper deck, which had been built for autos and light trucks had to strengthened to handle the load of the largest trucks.

Inside the Transbay Transit Terminal, the rail platforms were converted to bus use with AC Transit beginning bus service in 1960. The switch to one-way traffic on each deck took place on October 12, 1963.

These photos show in detail the configuration of the bridge and the Transbay Terminal before reconstruction. This work took place as the Embarcadero Freeway was being built and plans for BART were being finalized.