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Bay Bridge shock absorbers spring leak (Retrofit parts gone bad.. what else is new?)
SFGate.com ^ | 7/19/13 | Phillip Matier And Andrew Ross

Posted on 07/20/2013 9:04:04 AM PDT by NormsRevenge

While broken bolts on the new eastern span of the Bay Bridge are commanding everyone's attention, Caltrans has another problem on its hands - 96 seismic shock absorbers on the western span, some of which began leaking lubricant just three years after they were installed.

The estimated cost of the fix - $13 million.

And, like the brittle bolts on the eastern span, there are questions as to whether Caltrans ordered the right shocks - or dampers, as they are known - in the first place.

The dampers are located between the bridge towers just below the roadway, and are intended to dissipate energy from an earthquake and reduce stress on the structure.

Caltrans installed them in 2004 as part of a $670 million seismic upgrade of the western span and its approaches. Transportation officials expected them to last 20 years.

But by 2007, Caltrans officials say, a dozen of them began leaking.

The number has since grown to 37.

(Excerpt) Read more at sfgate.com ...


TOPICS: News/Current Events; US: California
KEYWORDS: absorbers; bay; bayarea; baybridge; bridge; caltrans; leak; oakland; sanfrancisco; shock; shockabsorbers; spring
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They could have built a pontoon bridge for half the price and twice as reliable as the monster now standing (but no one knows for how long it will remain doing so). :-)
1 posted on 07/20/2013 9:04:04 AM PDT by NormsRevenge
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Too big to fail?

We’ll see.


2 posted on 07/20/2013 9:04:47 AM PDT by NormsRevenge (Semper Fi --)
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To: NormsRevenge

Weren’t the steel parts made in China?


3 posted on 07/20/2013 9:05:00 AM PDT by bboop (does not suffer fools gladly)
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To: bboop

Surprise! They don’t need no stinking bomb to cripple us...


4 posted on 07/20/2013 9:06:23 AM PDT by Shady (Creed of the PC Police: You're guilty when we say you are...)
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To: NormsRevenge

They should have gone to Midas.


5 posted on 07/20/2013 9:12:30 AM PDT by smokingfrog ( ==> sleep with one eye open (<o> ---)
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To: bboop

Ya, I thought this bridge rebuilding project was done in China. How the heck that was okay with the liberals and labor leaders is beyond me. Democrats run California now, so they can’t blame any of this on the GOP or George W. Bush.


6 posted on 07/20/2013 9:13:27 AM PDT by Dilbert San Diego
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To: NormsRevenge

Rubber and oil......


7 posted on 07/20/2013 9:13:48 AM PDT by Gaffer
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To: Shady

“Surprise! They don’t need no stinking bomb to cripple us...”

That bridge is in San Fransicko, California.

That place has crippled itself long ago.


8 posted on 07/20/2013 9:14:24 AM PDT by GladesGuru (Islam is antithetical to, and Islam isS irreconcilable with, America. Therefore - Islam Delenda Est)
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To: NormsRevenge

Look for the union label...


9 posted on 07/20/2013 9:14:37 AM PDT by stboz
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To: NormsRevenge

Parts probably made in China.


10 posted on 07/20/2013 9:17:02 AM PDT by The Great RJ (construction)
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To: Shady
They don’t need no stinking bomb to cripple us...

Cripples are crippling us.

Every one has an excuse for why they should get treated differently than others.

Those perceived inequities are then used by the government to spend our tax money on luxury yachts.

11 posted on 07/20/2013 9:18:00 AM PDT by UCANSEE2 (The monsters are due on Maple Street)
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To: NormsRevenge; All

So NOBODY could be bothered to read even the short excerpt? Entirely different bridge, folks. They are talking about the seismic retrofit to the western span which connects Treasure Island to San Francisco, not the new eastern span.


12 posted on 07/20/2013 9:22:49 AM PDT by ProtectOurFreedom
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To: NormsRevenge

Third World governance is now, as in Detroit, starting to take its toll. People are deceived in that it takes a period of time for the fruits of Third World governance to become manifest. California as Detroit under proper governance accumulated massive wealth which takes time even under Third World governance to dissipate. For example, Detroit took sixty years to reach its current state. Slowly, ever slowly at first the rot sets in. Then at an ever increasing rate the “infrastructure” heads towards final collapse all while Mayor WooMoo Mugzabze has fifty billion in the bank, 85 white mistresses, one thousand brand new Rolls Royce, twenty five thousand uniformed retainers with shaved heads and who are trained to scowl.


13 posted on 07/20/2013 9:24:42 AM PDT by AEMILIUS PAULUS (It is a shame that when these people give a riot)
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To: NormsRevenge

Malfeasance or misfeasance either way the tax-payer looses.


14 posted on 07/20/2013 9:27:56 AM PDT by fella ("As it was before Noah, so shall it be again,")
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To: The Great RJ

They WERE made in China.


15 posted on 07/20/2013 9:33:37 AM PDT by bboop (does not suffer fools gladly)
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

Haha, we don’t need no stinkin’ facts.


16 posted on 07/20/2013 9:34:20 AM PDT by bboop (does not suffer fools gladly)
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To: NormsRevenge

The bridge has shock absorbers??

That’s exactly the kind of cultural luxury the Democrats don’t believe in. It takes away from the boob-belt and golf-club collection of the WH.


17 posted on 07/20/2013 9:35:40 AM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Obama: the bearded lady of Muslim Brotherhood))
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

” the western span which connects Treasure Island to San Francisco”

Actually its Yerba Buena Island - TI or Treasure Island has a causeway connecting it to the bridge access at YBI.


18 posted on 07/20/2013 9:35:48 AM PDT by Bobibutu
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To: bboop

If the facts stink
u must unthink


19 posted on 07/20/2013 9:37:22 AM PDT by Hardraade (http://junipersec.wordpress.com (Obama: the bearded lady of Muslim Brotherhood))
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To: ProtectOurFreedom

20 posted on 07/20/2013 9:37:44 AM PDT by al baby (Hi Mom)
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