(San Francisco) Bay Bridge Catches Fire, Expansion Joint Junk Might Be To Blame

[KeepItReal]

Officials are still trying to figure out the cause behind a Monday night blaze on the Bay Bridge that closed multiple lanes for over an hour.

It was 10 p.m. Monday when the California Highway Patrol received reports of flames shooting up into eastbound traffic from a grate just east of the Treasure Island exit.

According to a CHP spokesperson, lanes #1 and #2 of the new, Eastern span of the Bay Bridge were closed until about 11:17 as crews extinguished the fire.

"CHP said it looked like some debris accumulated in the expansion joint, and that it may have been started by a cigarette," KRON4 reports, but that theory has yet to be confirmed. That confirmation (or lack thereof) will come from Caltrans engineers, who are expected to mount a follow-up investigation to determine if this was a freak, one-time thing, or if we can expect the new span of the Bay Bridge to routinely burst into flames.

http://sfist.com/2015/07/14/bay_bridge_catches_fire_expansion_j.php

Now I have to add a flame retardant suit to my scuba gear in the preparedness bag - this defective bridge is gonna collapse without an earthquake...on fire.

[arcane1]

1. Give me the underground underwater tube any day.

That's where it's safe!

[2naSalit]

2. That bridge

has always given me the creeps... maybe it's possessed!

[dixiegrrrrl]

4. You and me both.

I am a very rational person, but for some reason hated to go across that bridge.
The other bridges around the bay, no problem.

Happily the issue is moot now, since we moved away.
But still....something about that bridge.....

[2naSalit]

5. Yeah...

I have to drive for almost a couple days to get to that one anymore. The other one that creeps me out is the Mackinac Bridge that connects the UP to the rest of Michigan... 5 mile span with a really slow speed limit.







Two lanes of the roadway are grate, you can see through it to the water which is really creepy when a set of iron ore ships are passing underneath, learned not to look down while crossing, and at 25 mph for 5 miles, it can rattle your nerves.

[riversedge]

7. looks like a bridge to nowhere with those pics. We have a small

bridge here in WI--it is nicknamed the rumble bridge. Used quite a bit or else have to go 5 miles up to cross then 5 miles back down. Anyway--one way and it actually rumbles because of the wood planks (which have been repaired a few years back but still loud.). Sounds like the bridge is cracking open as you drive oer.

[Starry Messenger]

3. That bridge is a hot mess--a beautiful lemon.

[AZ Progressive]

8. The bridge is making the state government look bad

As in how could this have happened to such a critical bridge in a major American city?

[Starry Messenger]

10. Arnold.

http://m.investigativereportingworkshop.org/story/american-steal-how-us-steelworkers-lost-china/

[NBachers]

6. Well-laid plot structure for a Stephen King novel: "My God, they've built a Portal to Hell!"

Or maybe one of those all-star disaster movies.

[AZ Progressive]

9. At least it's not anything like this...yet

[2naSalit]

11. Proof that Mother Nature Rules!! nt

[hedgehog]

12. I've never seen a film as complate as this. We were shown this in engineering school

as an example of what happens when you build too closely to exact design limits without knowing what factors you're leaving out. The bridge would have been fine if additional stiffening had been added, but no one took wind speeds through the narrows into account.