Institute of Transportation Engineers (ITE)
ITE Western District (Western United States)
San Francisco Bay Area Section

WINNER: 2008 Transportation Project of the Year Award

THE BAY BRIDGE WEST APPROACH RETROFIT PROJECT

A major milestone for the project was reached on April 11, 2008 with Governor Schwarzenegger paying tribute to this great accomplishment. This project will get its final Seismic Safety Certification on December 15.

This project, under the leadership of project manager, Ken Terpstra, involved a series of elaborately staged construction, demolition and re-construction efforts in a densely populated residential and commercial neighborhood in the South of Market Area in San Francisco. Caltrans had to build interim temporary structures and shift traffic over to these structures before demolishing the existing structure and rebuilding within the same footprint as the original structure.

Because of good working relations with adjoining residents and merchants on the part of Ken and all staff, Caltrans was able to accelerate the work and reduce the days for the demolition of the original eastbound structure from 110 days (spread out over multiple weekends) to a period of 17 consecutive days--an expedited process referred to as "brute force." Caltrans used "brute force" during various demolitions to accelerate the work, which shortened the duration of impact for the traveling public and residents. The use of "brute force" allowed Caltrans to reduce the demolition of two key structures from nine weekends to one weekend during the Labor Day weekend in 2006 and to demolish the Fremont and Harrison Street off-ramps, each over one weekend instead of four or five weekends.

Caltrans' successful closure of the eastbound Bay Bridge in September 2006 was largely due to its comprehensive approach to public outreach. Caltrans established an extensive public outreach program and coordinated with the contractor and various agencies to minimize impact on the community and traveling public. Caltrans'innovative and unique measures included contacting all of the news media around the Bay Area to run news stories about the demolition work on television and over the internet. Caltrans also sent out email notices, distributed brochures, used portable and permanent changeable message signs to inform the public about the closure.

Caltrans also provided traffic simulation models for the news media to show on television as well as over the internet. These were especially useful for the public during complicated traffic shifts to help them visualize the changes. Caltrans continued to use these creative measures for public outreach during the Bay Bridge closure for the Labor Day weekend in 2007 as part of the East Span Bay Bridge Project, now also under Ken Terpstra's leadership, and will continue to use these techniques for other projects as well.

In addition to the expedited demolition efforts, the project has saved time by revising the alignment of a number of interim structures and roadways, revising traffic control plans, and by the decision to close the eastbound Bay Bridge during Labor Day weekend of 2006.

Caltrans, under Ken's leadership, encouraged a cooperative working environment with the contractor, subcontractors, various public agencies as well as the surrounding neighborhood in the vicinity of this project. Caltrans worked especially effectively and closely with the SFMTA's Department of Parking and Traffic in strategizing traffic control measures, detours, and manual direction to minimize construction related impacts. This project has been run smoothly and is a tremendous asset to the Bay Area.

Congratulations to Caltrans District 4 and its Partners for the Succcessful West Approach Project!

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