California Terminates Bay Bridge’s Design Duplicate concrete viaduct could replace tougher-to-build signature suspension bridge
But the plan faces opposition from Bay Area residents and from skeptical state lawmakers, who must approve a new design and funding when the Democrat-controlled legislature returns next month. It will examine the California Dept. of Transportations argument that switching to a conventional concrete segmental box girder design will gain promised cost savings and enable completion by 2012, the original date for finishing the self-anchored suspension span. Observers hint that the move may also be a way to force Bay Area politicians to provide more funding if they want the signature span design. Click here to view graph