Bay Bridge crews scuttle to fix span by Tuesday

The goal is still to open the span by Tuesday morning's rush hour, after a long-planned closure that began Thursday night, affecting residents around the region. But on Sunday, state officials couldn't guarantee that would happen.

"They're going to be working overnight. They're not going to be stopping," said Bart Ney, Caltrans' Bay Bridge spokesman.

The 73-year-old bridge, crossed by more than 260,000 cars and trucks a day, was shut down for a larger, unrelated seismic upgrade project.

Now, crews are working to fix a cracked steel link, called an eyebar, that helps hold up the east span. Inspectors discovered the problem Saturday afternoon, setting in motion a dash to fix a problem that - by itself - would have forced officials to shut down the bridge.

A specially made steel saddle, acting like a brace, will be wrapped around the broken component to redistribute tension away from the damaged area. That will be attached to another saddle, this one set lower down the span with steel tie rods.