Evan Wagstaff/The Bay Citizen

Cable Saddle for the Bay Bridge

Construction crews spent most of Thursday hoisting a 450-ton piece of steel atop the Bay Bridge’s new eastern tower.

“This is no ordinary piece of steel,” said Caltrans spokesperson Bart Ney. “This is the largest tower saddle in the world.”

The saddle will hold the cables that will support the new eastern span, which will be the world’s largest self-anchored suspension span when the bridge is completed.

According to Caltrans, the placement of the saddle marks the beginning of the end for the $6.3 billion dollar project.

“This a significant milestone for this bridge today because we are at the technical top,” Ney said. “We're nearing completion.” The bridge is scheduled to open in late 2013, according to Caltrans.

The project required workers to lift the saddle 525 feet above the bay over the course of several hours. Caltrans conducted a rehearsal for the saddle's placement in April.

The bridge needed such a big saddle, because there will be only one tower to hold all of the cables supporting the span.

“It ends up being the biggest because of what it has to do,” Ney said. “Because we have one tower and one cable, everything is bigger.”

With the saddle in place, workers will construct a temporary catwalk system to lay the cables in early fall. Crews will string the cables by the end of 2012.

Caltrans did not have to detour traffic to install the cable. But during Memorial Day weekend, it will close some eastbound lanes of the bridge at night—from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.—for construction of the new “Oakland Touchdown.” That is where the new span will meet the toll plaza.

Drivers heading east will notice that lanes will curve to the right, as they get off the bridge.

Caltrans says it may take a couple of days for drivers to get used to the change, but they don’t expect it to cause major delays.