The Bay Bridge, here in Oakland / San Francisco, California, underwent a huge change last weekend. They found a crack in the bridge, that was extremely dangerous, which they had to fix before continuing their planned construction. Everything opened up only about 2 hours behind schedule. Everyone is happy... but doesn't anyone wonder: If we only caught that crack by first dismantling the bridge, what the hell else is broken on that bridge that we can't see regularly?
The crack was reported to be "unrelated to the construction," and "the cracked eyebar by itself would have forced officials to close the bridge for repairs." Yet they didn't see it until now.
Are people surprised that Interstate 35 / St. Paul, MN bridge collapsed from unseen damage? Maybe, but this just gives me chills.
Read more about the bridge opening on SFGate: http://kiw.is/9g
UPDATE (10/27/2009): Now two high strength rods have fallen and damaged three cars. This isn't looking good. What's being done to make sure nothing else happens?
Read more on the SFGate article: http://kiw.is/a2
