The planned five-day Labor Day closure enabled a new span to be rolled into place to divert traffic onto a temporary detour structure as part of the construction works for the new self-anchored suspension bridge.
But a full inspection of the existing structure which was carried out during the closure revealed a crack in an eyebar, serious enough to require immediate repair.
The reopening which had been planned for 5am Tuesday to coincide with the start of the morning commute was put in jeopardy. Only 12 hours earlier, Caltrans director Randell Iwasaki had announced that the bridge would not reopen on Tuesday and that the new target opening date was 5am on Wednesday.
But a dramatic turn of events on Tuesday morning saw a 6am press conference at which it was announced that the repair was complete and that the bridge would reopen at 7am, just two hours later than had been originally planned.
