Bay Area commuters were dealing with a difficult morning drive today as Caltrans closed the Bay Bridge after two steel rods fell off last night, possible because of high winds.
Caltrans this morning would not give a time estimate for when the Bay Bridge -- a key route between San Francisco and Oakland -- will reopen. A Caltrans spokesman told reporters this morning that it could take days to make the repairs.
The closure left commuters scrambling for alternative routes, whether that meant taking other bridges or taking mass transit. BART subway lines were jammed this morning, and the agency said it was bring in more trains.
The cables broke on the westbound upper deck of the Bay Bridge during the Tuesday evening commute, hitting at least one vehicle and snarling rush-hour traffic.
"If you look at the totality of the circumstances -- you've got the 5:30 commute, you have a 5,000-pound piece of steel falling out of the sky. We are so fortunate that no one was injured or killed," California Highway Patrol Sgt. Trent Cross told KTVU-TV.According to Caltrans, the incident occurred on a part of the bridge that received emergency repairs during the Labor Day weekend. That work was designed to repair a crack on the bridge.
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