Fit for a King: Richmond-San Rafael Bridge Project Contains Some of the Best Engineering and Construction Feats in the World

This article profiles Roads and Bridges’ top 10 bridges for 2005. Number one, for some of the "best engineering and construction feats in the country," was the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge in the northern section of San Francisco Bay. Due to its numerous unique challenges, including being located four miles from the Hayward Fault and 10 miles from the San Andreas Fault and being extremely long and carrying massive amounts of traffic, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) wrote a new book of guidelines for the $467 million undertaking, which comprised a complete seismic retrofit. In addition, Caltrans replaced the western spans, which are built on trestles. The project had to be done while traffic continued to travel across the spans except for a few night-time closures. The trestle portion totals 6,500 feet. The new sections were twice as long and canted differently, requiring close coordination of removal and replacement movements, as well as linkage to the existing structure. Special crane maneuvers were needed to handle the 500-ton slabs being put into place. Other features include a state-of-the-art system in bearing pads, using tapered stainless-steel-reinforced elastomeric bearing pads. A low-shrink grout was used for continuity stressing. Further highlights include: the use of eccentrically braced frames to support two-legged and four-legged towers, precast concrete jackets to reinforce the columns, and isolation bearings and viscous dampers. The other nine winners are the Galveston Causeway (Texas), Doremus Avenue Bridge Replacement (Newark, New Jersey), I-10 Bridge (Pensacola, Florida), Youghiogheny Reservoir Steel Bridge (Fayette and Somerset counties, Pennsylvania), I-580 Bridge (Reno, Nevada),John W. Tisdale Memorial Bridge (Clarksville, Virginia.), U.S. 93 Bridge (Phoenix, Arizona.), Gateway Blvd. Bridge (Nashville, Tennessee), and Liberty Memorial Bridge (Bismarck, North Dakota).

• Availability:
  • Find a library where document is available. Order URL: http://worldcat.org/oclc/11660022
• Authors:
  • Wilson, Bill
• Publication Date: 2005-11

Language

• English

Media Info

• Media Type: Print
• Features: Photos;
• Pagination: pp 26-28, 30-31
• Serial:
  • Roads & Bridges
  • Volume: 43
  • Issue Number: 11
  • Publisher: Scranton Gillette Communications
  • ISSN: 8750-9229
  • Serial URL: http://www.roadsbridges.com/rb/

Subject/Index Terms

• TRT Terms: Awards; Bents; Bridge engineering; Lifting equipment; Trestles
• Identifier Terms: Richmond-San Rafael Bridge
• Subject Areas: Bridges and other structures; Construction; Highways; I53: Construction of Bridges and Retaining Walls;

Filing Info

• Accession Number: 01018513
• Record Type: Publication
• Source Agency: UC Berkeley Transportation Library
• Files: BTRIS, TRIS
• Created Date: Jan 2 2006 5:34PM