Photo by Schwager Davis Inc.

Post-tensioned saddles wrap up and around the extremely small footprint of the shear keys.

Just months before the Bay Bridge opened, large-diameter high-strength bolts that anchor the seismic restraining devices failed during tensioning. To meet the opening date, the team installed post-tensioned saddles that wrapped up and around the extremely small footprint of the bridge's shear keys—which provide transverse support to the superstructure under lateral loads—anchoring them to the substructure and allowing the bridge to function as designed. The saddles required custom steel assemblies that held the 600-ton hydraulic jacks that stress the steel tendons.

Key Players

Contractor Amercian Bridge/Fluor, JV

Owners Caltrans; Bay Area Toll Authority

Lead Design Firm T.Y. Lin International

Specialty Contractor Schwager Davis Inc.