The Bay Area road project, targeting major highways and bridges like the San Francisco Bay Bridge, recently completed a $3 million emergency repair project. The focus now shifts to subsequent phases over the next four years, addressing various rehabilitation, repaving and reconstruction needs across multiple sites to ensure safety and efficiency for motorists.
California Department of Transportation photo
Crews used saw cutters to prepare replacement concrete barriers for U.S. 101 and Interstate 80.
The first of several major Bay area highway and road improvement projects is a wrap, making way for the next phases of a major effort to rehabilitate the major arteries leading to and around the San Francisco Bay Bridge.
Nearly 590 ft. of cracked and crumbling barriers along U.S. 101 and Interstate 80 were replaced with new concrete barricades, a nearly $3 million emergency repair project completed in December. One area of particular focus was the Bayshore and Central Freeway viaduct, which California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) officials described as a vital transportation artery in need of urgent attention for the sake of safety and reliability.
Yerba Buena Engineering and Construction and its subcontractors worked with Caltrans transportation engineer Chetan Sihra to complete the project, said Joy Cheung, principal engineer and chief of Caltrans District 4.
Work started in October and was limited to nights and weekends to minimize disruptions to motorists due to lane closures and equipment movements. Teams of 23 at night and about 60 on weekend shifts completely dismantled and removed existing barriers and rebuilt them on site, using saw cutters, loaders and cement mixers, Sihra said.
A volumetric mixer was used to prepare the early-set concrete on site. The benefit of using such a mixer, as opposed to a transit mixer, is that it reduces waste, Sihra said. With transit mixers, batches are mixed at a plant in pre-set amounts and transported to the work site. If only a portion of the batch is used, the rest is trashed. Volumetric mixers allow for custom batches.
"You mix only the amount needed," he said. The challenge to using it, though, is that it must be placed immediately after mixing.
It took roughly 60 cu. yds. to build 587 ft. of barriers. Using the early-set concrete helped reduce the amount of time highway lanes were closed to traffic. It took about two hours to set, with a compression strength of 4,000 psi.
Disruptions and challenges were minimal. The work tempo started slow — just 8 ft. of barriers went up the first night — but by the first weekend closure, the project was in full swing.
"There was a bit of a learning curve," Sihra said. "But there was a benefit to having them figure it out on weeknights, before the weekend."
There wasn't a set time frame for the project, he added. "We just knew we had to get it done before the rainy season."
With the emergency barrier replacement project complete, Caltrans officials are now focused on the subsequent phases, which will see more improvements to U.S. 101, Interstates 80 and 280, and State Road 1/19th Avenue over the next four years.
Now the mixers, saw cutters and loaders have moved on to the site of the next project — repairing and rebuilding two bridge barriers on the Bayshore Boulevard ramp — specifically at the Third Street undercrossing and the 23rd Street overcrossing. The U.S. 101/Paul Avenue exit ramp is closed while construction crews complete the work. It should be finished in July, Cheung said. Disney Construction Inc. has a nearly $5 million contract for the job, she added.
Motorists are finding nighttime lane closures on westbound I-80 at the bridge while engineers work on another project — inspecting the bridge cables. As long as the weather permits, closures will continue for the next few months until the work is finished, officials said.
Other upcoming phases include:
• The I-280 bridge rehabilitation project, which was initially scheduled to start in October but went on hold until the weather is right for the placement of polyester concrete overlays.
Plans are to improve the life span of six bridges along 10 mi. of the interstate, one bridge at a time. In addition to polyester overlays, the work includes replacing joint seals and repairing asphalt concrete approaches to the bridges.
Once work begins, it will start at the Lyell Street bridge undercrossing and proceed to the Monterey Boulevard on-ramp overcrossing, the San Jose Avenue undercrossing and four sites at the I-280/U.S. 101 interchange: northbound 101 to the lower deck of northbound 280; southbound 280 to the upper deck of southbound 101; north and southbound 280. Repairs expected to take at least three months and will be done at night, with full ramp closures.
• Bridge rehabilitation of the Central/U.S. 101 and Bayshore/I-80 viaducts, which should begin in the spring. The work entails placing polyester overlays and joints, repairing bridge barrier rails and decks on the 71-year-old viaducts. The project will take two years.
• Rehabilitation of U.S. 101, set to begin late this year or early 2026, will involve replacing concrete pavement, repaving on- and off-ramps, replacing the median barrier and improving drainage systems along the freeway from Candlestick Point through Hospital Curve.
Additionally, all four lanes of pavement on the Hospital Curve will be removed and rebuilt with new material. The work should take up to two years.
• Repaving 19th Avenue, also known as State Road 1, from Lincoln Way at Golden Gate Park to Holloway Avenue. Repairs will include some shoulder locations, upgrades to curb ramps and repaving the intersection of Park Presidio Boulevard and California Street. The work should begin this summer; there is no estimate of how long it will take.
• Reconstruction of the Farallones Avenue overcrossing on Interstate 280, expected to start sometime in 2026. The existing pedestrian overcrossing will be replaced, as it is too steep and there isn't enough clearance in one of the southbound interstate lanes for some vehicles to pass under safely.
The new crossing will be wider and accessible to those with disabilities, with proper slope and clearance, as well as improved lighting. An end date hasn't been set.
Cost amounts for the above projects were not immediately available. CEG
Lorie Jewell
Lorie Jewell is a freelance writer and photographer living in a multi-generational household in the foothills of Mount Rainier, Wash., where she spends her days helping with grandkids and dogs, shooting league pool, reading, working word and jigsaw puzzles, binging '90s sitcoms, knitting and crocheting, baking or hanging out at the archery club. She can also be found a couple days a week in local cemeteries, documenting headstones and grave locations for genealogists. A Florida transplant and Army combat veteran, she holds a bachelor’s degree in English and an MFA in creative nonfiction writing.
Read more from Lorie Jewell here.
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