Caltrans investigates broken rods on Bay Bridge

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) -- Transportation officials are investigating why nearly three dozen threaded steel rods on the new eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge snapped when workers tightened the fittings.

The Contra Costa Times reports (http://bit.ly/14nrDqm ) the rods — up to 16 feet long and as thick as a man's thigh — connect the bridge deck to the concrete cap that sits on top of the massive pier just east of the bridge tower.

Caltrans officials are expected to brief the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on the problem Wednesday. The commission is overseeing the new $6.4 billion span construction with the state.

Commission spokesman Randy Rentschler tells the newspaper the broken rods are not considered a structural problem and they are not expected to delay the scheduled Labor Day weekend opening.

___

Information from: Contra Costa Times, http://www.contracostatimes.com