Bay Bridge East Span: Paving of Self-Anchored Suspension Span Under Way
Bay Bridge crews are paving the way for the new eastern span’s completion — literally. Crews today were applying the first layer of epoxy asphalt to the westbound deck of the self-anchored suspension span (SAS) while the fresh pavement on the eastbound deck cures.
While engineers are tackling reinforcements for the seismic bolts that broke on the new bridge in March, other construction work is continuing on schedule. The application of a driving surface on the 2,280-foot-long SAS road decks is one of the final construction steps.
Crews from O.C. Jones & Sons of Berkeley began paving the eastbound deck on June 21 and ramped up the process on July 5. On the job 12 hours a day, seven days a week, they started today with applying asphalt to the 10-foot shoulders on either side of the five-lane westbound deck, creating slick ribbons of black alongside the gray tone of the raw deck surface.
Each deck gets two one-inch layers of the epoxy asphalt, a highly durable material that contains a binding substance.The resilient pavement should "outlast us all," said Bay Area Toll Authority Public Information Officer Andrew Gordon. While the SAS roadway is steel, the 233-foot Skyway is concrete, so its topping and coloration are somewhat different.
At the outset of the SAS paving, the workers sandblasted the decks to clean them and remove a protective primer. After coating the roads with a new primer and clearing them of debris, they lay down a bond coat and place each layer of asphalt, sandwiching a bonding layer in between. The project requires 8.4 million pounds of asphalt, and the application of each layer takes more than a dozen passes by the asphalt paver and rollers/compactors. The entire process takes about 10 days per deck.
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