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This year, workers finally broke ground on California’s ingenious quakeproof bridge, temporarily called the New East Span. Representing the eastern part of
the four-and-a-half-mile San Francisco– Oakland Bay Bridge—deemed unsafe after damaged sustained in the Loma Prieta earthquake of 1989—the replacement is designed to withstand an 8.2-magnitude monster. Expandable joints in the 2.2-mile deck act like shock absorbers, so the bridge can expand and contract during tremors. Adding to the bridge’s safety is the single 525-foot, bedrock-rooted tower from which a 10-lane highway will be slung. Replaceable steel beams linking the tower’s four legs deform under pressure to absorb force. All of which will give much-needed peace of mind to the 280,000 people who cross the bridge daily. newbaybridge.org
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