Golden Gate Bridge district approves $1 billion in seismic retrofit work

A decades-long plan to reinforce the Golden Gate Bridge to withstand major earthquakes is moving into its final phase of construction The board governing the Golden Gate Bridge Highway and Transportation District which manages the span voted Friday to authorize about billion in allocations toward the project which has surged in cost It is expected to take more than years to complete Related Articles Gov Newsom signs two suicide-prevention bills new California laws going into effect the present day The approvals include a million contract with Halmar International LLC a New York company plus a million contingency for unforeseen expenses The board also authorized a million budget increase with those funds being drawn from the district reserves To be here currently awarding this contract is an exciting step to ensure the bridge is safe for our future generations noted Patricia Garbarino a district board member representing Marin Thank you to staff and to everyone involved in the herculean effort to reach this key milestone for the seismic retrofit of our -year-old bridge This is a huge outlay that we ve been excited to make for a long time Marin County Supervisor Dennis Rodoni a member of the board disclosed ahead of the vote The bridge is an central infrastructure in the North Bay that we re happy to protect and preserve It s a great commitment Initially the project was estimated to cost about million The new project cost estimate stems from sharp price increases in the construction industry and materials field since the pandemic mentioned Paolo Cosulich-Schwartz a district official Because of the project size the work is being split into two subphases he announced The approval covers what is described as contract a construction project expected to begin in early and last six years he mentioned A subsequent contract at the estimated cost of an additional million will follow completion of the first contract Work under the second contract is expected to continue for another five years Cosulich-Schwartz announced The district is committed to completing the entirety of the Golden Gate Bridge seismic retrofit project and will be emerging a financing plan for the final construction contract over the coming years he mentioned The contract approval comes after district administrators voted this summer to remove diversity equity and inclusion language in framework documents to avoid backlash from the Trump administration The U S Department of Transportation put the Golden Gate Bridge district on notice in a April letter that warned against DEI policies The letter from U S Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy stated that any agenda campaign or activity that is premised on a prohibited classification including discriminatory policies or practices designed to achieve so called diversity equity and inclusion or DEI goals presumptively violates Federal Law District staff commented a million federal grant to encouragement the seismic retrofit of the iconic span was potentially at stake Bridge tolls are the district s primary source of revenue and unlike greater part other transit agencies the district receives no dedicated state or local tax funding When the district buys new buses or ferries or does work on the bridge about of the money comes from federal sources staff declared In addition to the million grant in federal Bridge Commitment Venture funds the contract project is supported by million from the Caltrans Federal Highway Bridge Effort and million in district reserves The four-phase seismic retrofit project which was launched in was prompted by the Loma Prieta earthquake in The -second -magnitude quake caused major damage to bridges and highways including the collapse of the top deck of the Bay Bridge and the Cypress Street viaduct in Oakland The Golden Gate Bridge had no observable damage but was located about miles north of the quake s epicenter A vulnerability research conducted by the bridge district after the Loma Prieta quake discovered that a magnitude quake with an epicenter near the bridge could cause major damage to the span A magnitude temblor would create a substantial danger of collapse at the two viaducts on the San Francisco and Marin entry points as well as at the Fort Point Arch About million in seismic upgrades were completed at these vulnerable sections of the bridge from to District staff disclosed the bridge no longer faces the danger of collapse at these sections but there is still a hazard of considerable damage elsewhere on the span The final phase includes strengthening the main span and two side spans while reinforcing both towers and the south tower pier The project will focus on the towers and side spans first because they are less flexible than the main span That work includes installing large steel plates at tower bases and strengthening the tower trusses Expansion joints where the road meets the towers and pylons will be replaced to allow for three-dimensional movement in episode of a large earthquake A total of floor beams on the road will be retrofitted and absorption devices will be installed to reduce the flow of quake resource into the bridge The project will also repaint the south tower above the road While the Golden Gate Bridge can safely withstand a large earthquake in the modern day the final phase of the seismic retrofit will help ensure the bridge remains in amenity in the aftermath of a major natural calamity and will help our region respond and recover in the days weeks and months that follow reported John Eberle district engineer We re excited to embark on this project that will create hundreds of union jobs and protect the Golden Gate Bridge for future generations IJ reporter Steven Rosenfeld contributed to this description