Engineering Feat for Giant Cranes to Pass Under Golden Gate and Bay Bridges

Transporting three $10 million, 1,500 ton cranes from Asia to Oakland to pass under the Golden Gate and Bay Bridges has been a major engineering feat involving months of planning.

The cranes arrived in San Francisco Bay this morning aboard a special barge - see previous blog.

'It's a lot of work. It takes a whole team to be able to move these cranes from Asia,' said Robert Bernado, Manager of Media and Public Relations for the Port of Oakland.

With an emphasis on safety, 'God forbid it actually touches the bridges - what would happen to the morning commute....!'

With expert engineering, however, the cranes passed under the Golden Gate Bridge with a clearance of 14 ft and under the Bay Bridge with a gap of 9 ft.

The difference reflects the variables that the engineers have had to factor in, and tides are one of them. The barge sailed on a low tide, but the bridges themselves are another variable as they contract or expand by a few feet depending on weather conditions, explained Robert Bernado.

One of the Port of Oakland's engineers spent the weekend at Point Reyes, Marin County, working with engineers from the shipping company, Evergreen Marine Corporation. 'They were clearly monitoring tide tables,' he said.

The cranes fold down at the apex and the barge itself can lower or raise its height by taking in or off-loading water in a technique called de-ballasting.

This cargo is called Super-Post Panamax cranes, one of the newest generation of cranes, but already their predecessors, the Post Panamax cranes, could load and unload containers from a ship too wide for the Panama Canal. These 'Supers' have a 120 ton load capacity and can lift up to four 20 ft or two 40 ft long containers, confirmed Robert Bernado.

As the Zhen Hua 15 sailed under the Bay Bridge, it turned at right angles to head for the port. Watching the giant cranes unload is fascinating, said Robert. The barge lightens its weight to rise to the level of the dock and the cranes, each on four wheels, roll off.

'Without naming names, there have been ports where the cranes have rolled onto the terminal and right into the water!' he said.

The three cranes now bring the total of Super-Post Panamax cranes at the port to 22. The port is the third busiest in California and the fifth busiest in the US handling, with fluctuations, around two million 20 ft containers per year.

pics by Chris

Giant Cranes Enter San Francisco Bay Under Golden Gate and Bay Bridges

As the clock on the Ferry Building in San Francisco struck 9 am today, the red bow of a barge transporting three giant folded 253 ft cranes slowly glided into view heading towards the Bay Bridge.

A small crowd had gathered on the end of Pier 30/32 to watch the auspicious arrival of the three mega container cranes that had travelled from Shanghai, China, on a barge specially designed to be able to lower itself in water to pass under structures.

Like the Golden Gate Bridge under which it passed at 8.30 am.

'To me, it's amazing!' said Arthur, there with his wife, Beamer. 'I was just thinking about how they were able to build that crane and put it on a ship and have it come halfway around the world.

'For me to witness this is amazing. I can say I saw it come under the Bay Bridge!'

Arthur is no stranger to shipping events. A former Vietnam vet, he worked on rescue helicopters that flew around naval aircraft carriers as pilots were taking off and landing, ready to rescue any who unfortunately landed in the sea.

 'I'm looking at a lot of jobs for people,' he said, gazing in admiration as the Zhen Hua 15 slipped past making the passage under the Bay Bridge look effortless, but at the same time eliciting a breathless 'This is going to be close!' from one of the onlookers.

Around the barge was a flotilla of tugs and the US Coast Guard and in the air hovered three helicopters. Traffic on the bridge was halted.

The cranes, said Arthur, will make the loading and unloading of cargoes in the major Port of Oakland that much easier and quicker. Cargoes that include travel between the San Francisco Bay and the Far East, Australia, Canada, Alaska and other parts of California.

'I wouldn't mind being one of the operators on those cranes!' he added 'You're talking BIG money.'

How big?

'I would estimate at least $75 dollars an hour, and that's not counting overtime!'

For how the feat of transporting the cranes was accomplished, and facts and figures see next blog.

pics of cranes by Chris

http://www.flickr.com/photos/chrisflowersmd/sets/72157623508891299/

Bay Bridge Now Open

The Bay Bridge opened at about 9 am today, after being closed for emergency repairs since last Tuesday evening.

But by 4.30 pm tonight - pics above - the bridge was still

quiet with a much reduced flow of traffic. Many commuters had travelled to the city this morning by BART or on ferries.

Early this morning KRON4 reported that repairs to the bridge were being tested and that Caltrans were 'very optimistic' of it opening later today. Though not in time for the the morning commute.

Camera shots showed vehicles being driven on the bridge as part of testing.

The problem engineers were working on, reported KRON4, was preventing steel rods from rubbing against each other once the bridge is back in use.

During the closure BART trains have carried record numbers of passengers and have run overnight services on Friday and Saturday. Ferries across the bay have also had increased numbers of travellers.

For further info: KRON4.com

Caltrans Still Adjusting Repairs to Bay Bridge - about to Stress Test

Caltrans engineers have been 'custom-fitting and fine-tuning' adjustments to repairs of the Bay Bridge today, said a spokesperson.

Stress testing is about to begin anytime now, she said, in a press conference just given and streamed live on kron4.com.

But the spokesperson refused to give any target time for the opening of the bridge or to make any commitment to it being open for Monday morning.

Safety is the priority, she said.

'This is a really unique situation and things are being customized,' she said.

Designs to the repair involving an eyebar and the fitting of four steel rods has been evolving, with adjustments made as the work is done, she said. Asked why the eyebar, that has a repaired crack in it following planned maintenance on Labour Day Weekend, is not being replaced but shored up back in place, she said that would be too difficult.

The crack had not been affected by the accident of the eyebar and two of the steel rods crashing down during the Tuesday evening commute as a result of vibration, she said.

Stress testing is expected to take about three hours, and will be followed by anti-vibration dampeners being installed, and then extensive inspections by outside agencies.

These are the Federal Highway Administration, the Seismic Peer Review Board and independent inspectors.

'Once that bridge is deemed safe, that's when we can open the bridge,' she said. In the interim, BART are running a limited overnight service to 14 of their stations.

For further info: sign up for official BART news updates, follow a BART RSS feed or follow @SFBART to keep up with the latest.

pics show the fog lifting off the bridge at midday, and a Coastguard helicopter making a more unusual flypast under rather than over it.

California's Next 50 Years of Transportation

A mileage fee on road travel is 'probably the path we're headed towards,' said a transport expert yesterday, speaking at a conference addressing the transport needs of California over the next 50 years.

But Steve Heminger, Executive Director of MTC - Metropolitan Transportation Commission - admitted that responses to that idea were 'almost radioactive!'

A mileage fee 'has a lot to do with the issue of privacy,' he said, ie the government tracking where motorists go. 'I think it's a very significant hurdle.'

The sort of news that taxpayers beleaguered by the credit crunch don't want. Nor to hear that the state will need about $250 billion dollars over the next 50 years for transport, and expects to get only 25 per cent of that based on current revenues.

The conference, titled 'The Next 50 Years Addressing California's Mobility in a Time of Financial Challenge - Fixing Mass Transit!' took place yesterday afternoon at the Commonwealth Club of California, in San Francisco.

The harbinger of financial doom was Norma Ortega, Interim Chief Financial Officer of Caltrans, who outlined predicted spending against a backdrop of shrinking revenues. The credit crunch had caused a decline in taxes, especially sales taxes, and had affected State budget spending, she said.

Just to maintain the current system will cost $5 to $6 billion, and if maintenance is not kept up to date, major repairs further down the line will cost 'six times as much,' she said.

The conference, despite its title, focussed on the philosophy of transport and not specifics. With an audience of about 50 people and a representative also on the panel from the Federal government, questions and discussion were about principles.

And, as Steve Heminger said, 'if we don't know what to buy, how can we talk about figures?' Ideas, he said, 'usually come from a wish list of projects that get dusted off' when funding appears to be available. The problem with public acceptance for anything, he said, whether for bridges, schools or transport, is that the 'public is skeptical because they don't know what they are going to get.'

One of the key questions, he said, is if something new is built, will the public use it? Traffic congestion is usually the 'number one' problem, and, in his view, gas/petrol tax and toll charges today are 'relatively cheap' still. The toll on the Bay Bridge when it opened in the 1930s in today's currency would be 20 bucks, and gas tax today is 'much cheaper' than it was in the 1950s.

If the price of gas stays below $4, ridership of public transport is unlikely to increase, he said, unless more residential and mixed-use accommodation is built near stations.

Baby boomers, like himself, came in for a hit. The public will only get the transportation they're willing to pay for, and the problem with baby boomers? 'My generation are happy to live off the current system.'

He quoted Prsident Obama, quoting himself from 'The Good Book': 'It's not too late for us to set aside childish things.'

In other words, a refusal to look the financial implications in the eye and grasp the nettle, will either lead to a deteriorating transport system or, with borrowed money, impose a severe burden
on the next generation.

'We will continue to postpone and evade that responsibility at our peril,' he warned.

US government representative, Therese McMillan, Deputy Director of USDOT - US Department of Transportation's Federal Transit Administration - said that funding had been 'dramatically coloured by the recent recession.'

The government, especially where projects run into millions and billions of dollars, are expecting 50 per cent of non-Federal dollars 'to be added to the picture,' and are now examining the viability of both building and maintenance costs.

At question time, the first question not surprisingly was whether funding had affected the Bay Bridge. Norma Ortega said she didn't think funding was a factor. Mr Heminger agreed, and said the eastern span was 'showing it's age,' and further commented that 'without political interference' the new part of the bridge would be open today.

Funding wise, the Bay Area has $200 billion for a 25-year plan, but they could spend it all on maintenance without new projects. 'We have aging pains and growing pains and we can't afford to simply address the one,' he said.

Both he and Ms Ortega supported private funding partnerships, but Mr Heminger said this was of limited value as 'no-one from Goldman Sachs' would want to pay for a backlog!

Other 'tools in the toolbox' included tolls, freight charges, 'fast lane' passes, congestion fees, increasing bicycle and pedestrian paths, and for motorists to pay for their insurance at the gas pump. Ferries had some role, but Mr Heminger relegated them to a romantic past, dismissing a proposal made a few years ago for a ferry to bring travellers up to San Francisco from Half Moon Bay on the Pacific Ocean!

He also referred to high-speed rail as having something of a romantic image, and being less of a solution than assumed.

Ms McMillan pointed out that major projects often lasted for decades, and with population changes, the need was to have some flexibility to reduce obsolescence.

Environmental issues, the panel agreed, were another factor to be taken into consideration.

A second conference on identifying funding resources will be held in spring 2010.

For info on Commonwealth Club events including free podcasts: http://tickets.commonwealthclub.org/

pic: Moderator, Dr Asha Weinstein Agrawal, Director of MTI's - Mineta Transportation Institute - National Transportation Finance Center; Norma Ortega; Steve Heminger; Therese McMillan

Bay Bridge to Remain Closed for Friday Morning Commute

The Bay Bridge is to remain closed for the Friday morning commute tomorrow, Caltrans have said in a press conference early this evening.

The bridge closed on Tuesday evening when two steel rods and a crossbar crashed onto the upper deck

of the bridge, striking cars but fortunately causing no serious injuries.

Dale Bonner, Secretary of California's Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, said it was possible the bridge would open later on Friday but it would depend on the repair work being finished and the right weather conditions to

produce a sufficient means of testing the new fittings.

The work is scheduled to finish by 10 am Friday, and then to need a minimum three-hour testing period by outside experts as well as the Caltrans - State of California • Department of Transportation - engineers who have designed the repair. The Federal Highway Administration and the Seismic Peer Review Board have been involved in the design stage and will be in the testing.

The accident was caused by vibration on the bridge that led to metal fatigue in one of a group of four eyebars from a total 1,680 eyebars. The bar came loose, bringing down the second bar and the crossbar with it. Caltrans say that high winds probably contributed.

Because of this, engineers will be waiting for windy conditions in which to test the bridge.

The eyebar had had a crack in it, which had been discovered incidentally during maintenance inspections on another part of the bridge over Labor Day Weekend. That crack had been repaired - it was the cause of delayed reopening of the bridge - and this accident was not related to the crack, said Mr Bonner.

The crack had not widened.

'We're not today anywhere near anything close to a catastrophic failure. What we are doing is moving quickly to nip a very small problem in the bud to keep a small problem small,' he said.

The repair involved replacing all four eyebars as a precaution, making sure the rods were 'centered' so unable to vibrate and cause metal fatigue, putting in additional high-strength steel rods and strengthening welds and bolts.

Journalists at the conference pressed him on several points. Why, asked one, had this happened when vibration was not new to the bridge?

'I don't want anyone to think that the structure itself (is at risk), (or that) there's been any change in the condition of the bridge,' he replied.

Another said commuters were worried that '5,000 tons of steel did fall down.' Some people would say that was catastrohic, the reporter added, and if the bridge couldn't withstand wind, how would it cope in an earthquake?

'I was confident then and confident now that the bridge itself is safe,' Mr Bonner replied. The problem with the design of the repair is that the Bay Bridge is a 73-year-old structure with an obsolete design. They had to have engineers 'go to the drawing board to make a design that will work.'

Journalists had been talking to critics of the design of the bridge. Were Caltrans listening to their critics and were they open to criticism?

Yes, said Mr Bonner, but they were 'not aware of anyone who has suggested a better design.'

Caltrans, said another reporter, were aware two weeks ago of movement with the eyebar fixture. Why had they not closed the bridge earlier?

'Hindsight is 20/20,' said Mr Bonner.

Will the repair pose a risk?

Mr Bonner admitted they could 'never be absolutely certain,' which is why from now on there will be continual inspections.

To repeated questions about the timing of the opening, Mr Bonner reiterated that experts will be given as much time as they needed to complete thorough stress testing.

The press coference was held in Oakland and after which journalists and TV crews were escorted onto the bridge by the CHP - California Highway Patrol - for examination, photos and filming.

A full viewing of the conference has been posted by KRON4: www.kron.com

For further updated info from Caltrans: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist4/

And for travel info from BART: http://www.bart.gov/

BART say they are not running trains overnight as they need the time to maintain their trains, especially with the extra workloads.

pics show the silent span over the bayside of San Francisco, and police officers guarding the on-ramps to the bridge.

Bay Bridge Closure Brings Record Numbers of BART Travellers

While the Bay Bridge is closed for emergency repairs, BART - Bay Area Rapid Transit - are celebrating a record-breaking bonanza.

A record 437,200 people crammed onto BART trains yesterday producing the highest ridership day in the 37-year history of the service. Compared to an average Wednesday, the trains carried 90,800 more people, representing an extra 26 per cent.

The Bay Bridge closed on Tuesday evening after metal fatigue caused by vibration caused an eyebar to break loose and bring another eyebar and a crossbar down with it. The accident happened at about 5,30 pm, steel hitting cars but without causing serious injury to commuters.

On the route covered directly by the Bay Bridge linking the East Bay and San Francisco, BART had 253,400 riders, an above-average 87,500 or 53 per cent.

And this morning up to 10 am, BART are reporting a 60 per cent rise to an approximate total of 88,000 passengers.

By 4 pm this afternoon, travellers were already queuing at Montgomery Station in the financial heart of the city above the Embarcadero - pictured above.

BART have achieved their record numbers in part by running longer trains and also extra transbay trains. Their service appears to be appreciated by passengers.

'It hasn't been bad. I like it, I can rest,' said Marie, who normally travels by car from Pittsburgh.

Walter, who usually drives in from Berkeley, had likewise found the train service good and had got to work at his normal time of 9 am. The difficulty, he said, had been finding a parking spot near the BART station - something that has affected thousands of commuters - and the inconvenience of having to walk six or seven blocks once he had arrived in the city.

'This is the first day I did it,' said Tracy of her BART commute from Oakland. 'The morning was fine and this seems to be okay.' She usually travels into the city in a car pool and returns by bus.

Another Oakland commuter, Eileen, - pictured - said, 'It's taken me twice as long.' Instead of 30 mins it had taken her 1 hour and 10 mins to get to work. But the problem wasn't BART, it was the MUNI train that she needed to transfer to that took a slow, meandering route to her place of work south of the city, she said.

'BART's pretty good,' she opined. 'I would take it every day if it wasn't for MUNI!'

The previous ridership record was 405,400 in September 2008 when there were two sporting events in the city, the Raiders vs. Broncos and Giants vs. Arizona.

The next highest numbers are 395,300 in September of this year when the Bay Bridge had a planned closure on Labor Day for maintenance inspections; 394,370 in June 2008 for Spare the Air Day; and 391,900 on the day of the controversial Olympic Torch Relay, and the Giants played San Diego.

Independence Day Weekend- Driving!

For many San Franciscans this year, the Independence Day weekend provided a hopeful Thursday evening escape from the city.

But as thousands headed towards Lake Tahoe, the scenic resort in the Sierra Nevada mountains, it was a holiday start of heavy traffic queues.

With Independence Day falling on Saturday, many people had Friday off in lieu and, dreaming of a peaceful mountain and lake retreat, were trying to leave the city in droves by 4 pm.

What is officially described as an average four-hour journey took 5 1/2 hours, crawling slowly along car-logged roads and navigating roadworks.

By 4 pm there were queues of traffic on the approach to the Bay Bridge. Once on the Bridge, the heavy traffic flowed until we reached Emeryville on the other side. Then we slowed and progressed bumper to bumper, side by side, to the state's capital of Sacramento, about 80 miles away.

It was a beautiful, hot evening as we journeyed. But with other roadworks, including some on bridges not far from Truckee, we saw the sun set across the mountains and arrived at our hotel in the dark.

Forget lakeside dining in North Lake Tahoe, we spent it snacking in the car instead!

New Year's Eve Fireworks, San Francisco, 2008!

Exploding red balls sent fiery glows across the New Year sky, a fountain of sparkles rose up and cascaded golden rain over the Bay, a spangled rainbow arched low over the water and gold strands tipped with purple stars shimmered in the night air.

They were just some of the brilliant fireworks at the Embarcadero last night as San Francisco entered 2009!

It was a fantastic display of fiery bursts of stars and droplets in a galaxy of patterns, plumes, spirals and whorls, that streaked, wriggled, floated and flitted across the night sky. And in a multitude of colours. There was orange and scarlet, gold and silver, purple, yellow, reds, blues and greens

At times huge explosions sent flickers of colour high into the sky, muted by the hovering fog.

That endearing feature of San Francisco, the fog, hung overhead but stayed sufficiently high to allow most of the fireworks to be seen by the celebrating crowd who amassed, south of the Ferry Building, as far down as the Bay Bridge.

Across the bay, dinner-cruise ships festooned with lights, and smaller boats formed a glimmering backdrop as they floated in a long line.

Though we are nearly the last in the world to celebrate - it was 6 am here when Sydney produced their annual extravaganza and 4 pm when London's fireworks exploded over the Thames - we are not the least!

But we are some of the last major cities in the world to celebrate New Year, along with other Californian cities of Los Angeles and San Diego, Seattle in Washington State, and Vancouver.

To help with the celebrations, San Francisco provided free public transport with MUNI trains and buses for its revellers from 8 pm to 6 am. Extra services were also put on.

With three hours still to go till the whole world had entered the New Year, next were Alaska and the Gambier Islands, then the Marquesas Islands, followed by Hawaii, Cook, Tahiti, and the most western town of the USA, Adak in Alaska.

Finally, were Niue, Samoa and American Samoa.

First in line, officially, is Caroline Island, an uninhabited atoll in the Pacific, which came to fame at the New Millenium festivities.
But the first celebrations are on Christmas Island, known as Kiritimati in Gilbertese.
HAPPY NEW YEAR, 2009!

Fleet Week- USS Bonhomme Richard

'You're welcome to pick one up and try one,' said the Marine, in straight tones to the small group looking in awe at three deadly machine guns.

'There's no rounds in them,' he encouraged. Still, we hesitated.

We were safe inside the belly of the USS Bonhomme Richard, one of the Navy's large amphibious assault ships. But handling a machine gun was outside of the range of experience for most of us.

And the Marine had just informed us of their firing capabilities. The mightiest one, long, black and powerful-looking, belted out 325 - 375 small grenades per minute in a range of over 2,000 metres, the middling, one of a kind that had seen service from the days of the two World Wars and through Korea and Vietnam to the present day, 450 - 550 rounds, and the lightest, 650 - 950 rounds, both with ranges of around 200 metres.

Curiosity overcame us but as we put a hand to the guns, it was obvious!

The weapons usually need two Marines each to operate,
our instructor said with a grin.

The lightest, certainly while empty, can be held by some as Ricardo, an ex-military man who happened to be in the tour group, demonstrated. Ricardo was there, he said, 'to bring my kids and show them the ship.'

Nicknamed the 'Revolutionary Gator,' the Bonhomme Richard is one of four ships in San Francisco available for tours as part of the 27th Fleet Week. Moored just below the Bay Bridge, thousands of people have been pouring inside for a glimpse of life inside an amphibious assault ship. The queues early afternoon yesterday took about an hour.

The ship, our guide said, is used to support the Marines in combat and also for humanitarian operations, being able to land people, supplies and equipment from the sea.

Once inside the cavernous hold, the Marines first showed us the machine guns and then let us clamber through one of the amphibious vehicles painted in camouflage colours. We saw controls lining the side and peered into the tiny, metalllic driver's space. Two-year-old Lewis tried on a hard hat with his mum.

Then we rounded up a ramp to the next deck where coloured pennants hung from the ceiling. Here in this huge space, crew were busy setting out tables for serving food and preparing for a reception. We passed on up another ramp and emerged onto the flight deck.

Before us stretched the flightdeck to either side. We were standing out in the bay close to the Bay Bridge with glorious views and able to wander freely. Overall the length of the ship is 844 ft and has a speed of over 20 knots.

This is where the heart of the air action occurs. Concealed below were five Harrier jets, 42 CH-46 Sea Knight helicopters and six ASW helicopters. An aircraft elevator jutting out over the side brings them to the deck.

Armaments on board include two RAM launchers, two NATO Sea Sparrow launchers, two Phalanx CIWS mounts and seven machine guns. But none of that was really visible.

Today a little demonstration of firefighting equipment was going on, which particularly pleased children like four-year-old San Franciscan twins, Grant and Owen. Grant disappeared from sight beneath a helmet and visor while Owen tried on a gas mask.

Visiting a naval ship, the atmosphere is a mix of high security and friendliness. From the beginning at the top of the pier, there are armed personnel in different uniforms, some standing at the gate, others driving little buggies around. There are electronic bag checks and you have to show photo ID. But at the same time, there is a welcoming manner and, especially while standing in the queue, you see many crew in civvies who have been either out enjoying the city or are about to go out.

Inside the ship the atmosphere is relaxed. The Sailors who are guides are in their dress whites and there is only one armed guard at each end, both of whom chatted to visitors.

Over the side in the water, though, two Coast Guard ships floated close by and while we were there they were joined by a third smaller vessel. Coast Guard helicopters also made regular fly pasts at one point going almost directly over the ship.

The ship is the third frigate to bear the name 'Bonhomme Richard' and was named, says the navy's official website, after the pen name of Benjamin Franklin, Ambassador to France and author of Poor Richard's Almanak.

Today the full complement of crew includes 104 officers, 1,004 enlisted members and 1,894 Marines. Though for this visit to San Fran, there are a total of 1,500 Marines and Sailors aboard both the ship and the guided missile destroyer, USS Pinckney.

Captain Neil Parrott is their Commanding Officer who took up his post in June, 2007.

The first ship to bear the name Bonhomme Richard was the frigate of John Paul Jones, revered by many as the 'Father of the American Navy' for leading the navy to their first-ever defeat of an English ship in English waters! The motto of the ship, 'I have Not Yet Begun to Fight', is a quote from him during that battle in the American War of Independence.

The current ship was commissioned in 1998 and is based in San Diego, California.

This year Fleet Week coincides with the Navy's 233rd birthday and the 100th anniversary of the Great White Fleet, the historic occasion when President Theodore Roosevelt sent 16 white-painted battleships of the Atlantic Fleet on a round-the-world voyage between December 1907 and February 1909 to extol American sea power. On their way, the fleet called in to San Francisco for two months and it is this that gave rise to what is now called Fleet Week.

The point of the week is for the Navy, Marine and Cadets Corps to showcase their personnel and their capabilities and for the public to be able to meet them. It is sobering to even glimpse the realities of war and to see so many young people willing to serve their country.

As we left the ship and wandered back out onto the pier, I spoke to Jerry and Maria.

'We really loved it!' said Maria. 'This is our first time in San Francisco and we decided to come in and tour the ship. Very nice! I'm impressed!' she said.

pics show: tour guides; pennants; flight deck in front of the Bay Bridge; Ricardo, ex-military man with machine gun

For an album of pics click here

For an album of pics by Colin, professional photographer, click here
For Colin's report, see next blog

Yerba Buena Island Fire

Yerba Buena Island at the end of the Bay Bridge was alight this afternoon, sending fire boats and trucks and engines to the rescue.

Fire in scrubland started just after 2 pm according to NBC news this evening, and sent smoke billowing down the bay obscuring part of the coastline, as the pic shows.


Helicopters hovered overhead and some lanes on the bridge were closed causing long queues around city streets for several hours for motorists needing to cross the bridge.

The concern of firefighters, according to NBC's report, was to make sure that the ground was sufficiently damped down to prevent any reigniting given the high temperatures and drought conditions around the Bay Area.

These pics were taken at about 4 pm.