Tiny cracks found on some of the rods on the new Bay Bridge tower potentially endanger the rest of the more than 400 remaining fasteners that secure the tower to the foundation in an earthquake, Caltrans officials said Tuesday. Brian Maroney, Caltrans’ chief engineer on the bridge project, said the microscopic cracks found on at least two rods lead him to believe the problem could be widespread, and that the rods could be repaired or even replaced if necessary. Nearly all the rods have been exposed to water and about a quarter of them have sleeves that routinely flood with several inches of bay water within days of being drained. Tests on a third rod, a fastener removed after it failed to hold during a test, showed it had failed with a “fast brittle fracture,” Maroney told a three-member bridge oversight panel at its meeting in Oakland.(…)
via Ominous new cracks found on Bay Bridge rods – eWallstreeter.