Bay Area Toll Bridges




Five Bay area Toll Bridges to be Retrofitted:

  • Benicia - Martinez Bridge

  • Carquinez Bridge

  • Richmond San- Rafael Bridge

  • San Mateo  - Hayward Bridge

  • San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge


    • The new San Francisco - Oakland Bay Bridge East Span is funded by the Seismic Retrofit program mandated by Senate Bill 60 (SB 60) .

    Benicia Martinez Bridge Seismic Retrofit

    ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

    • Permits were obtained from the US Army Corp of Engineers, San Francisco Regional Water Quality Control Board (RWQCB),  and San Francisco Bay Conservation and Development Commission (BCDC).

    • Minimize impact to Delta Smelts in the Carquinez Straits.

    • No work allowed in Environmentally Sensitive Area (ESA) along the shoreline and at the southern end of the bridge.

    • Excavation, reuse and disposal of Aerial Deposited Lead (ADL) shall comply with standards established by regulatory agencies.

    • Avoid contamination of the Carquinez Straits from construction activities.  Compliance with National Pollutant Discharge Elimination System (NPDES) and RWQCB rules and regulations.

    US COAST GUARD ISSUES:
    The USCG approved the project as "repair-in-kind".  Because of the retrofit work will occur within the Carquinez Strait navigation channels, there was close coordination with the Eleventh Coast Guard District in Alameda, California.  A Coast Guard checklist, consisting of navigational and marine safety issues, was developed specifically for this retrofit project.  Contractors working on the bridge will adhere to the safety checklist developed for the project.

    SCHEDULE / COST:
    There are 2 contracts totaling.-Cost $105 million.  Construction Start/Completion-February 1998 / June 2000.

    BACKGROUND:
    Constructed in 1962, the Benicia-Martinez Bridge carries Route 680 traffic over the Carquinez Strait between the cities of Benicia in Solano County and Martinez in Contra Costa County.  Currently, over 90,000 vehicles cross the bridge each day.  When completed in 1962, the bridge was constructed to an initial 4-lane width of 67 feet.  In 1991, the bridge was widened to its present width of 77 feet to accommodate six lanes of traffic.

    SEISMIC RETROFIT STRATEGY:
    In 1980, the bridge was seismically upgraded with earthquake restrainers and reinforced concrete support blocks.  However, these upgrades have been determined to be inadequate for current seismic design goals.  The current seismic design strategy is to ensure that the bridge will be serviceable and open to the general public after a  Maximum Credible Earthquake(MCE).

    The proposed retrofit strategy includes replacing the existing steel bearings with isolation bearings, adding a new tapered exterior concrete jacket to most of the piers and adding additional caissons with tie down anchors.  Other work proposes to strengthen the approach columns and widen the column footings, place larger expansion joints at the abutments and strengthen the steel members which comprise the truss structure.