The continuing calamity at the new San Francisco Bay Bridge span reaches epic, almost comical proportions. Caltrans isn’t sure if it inspected the huge rods, some of which may be cracked. Worse, there is no way to get them out to inspect them.
Caltrans has no evidence it verified the quality of the hundreds of irreplaceable rods needed to anchor the tower of the new Bay Bridge eastern span or made sure the manufacturer hadn’t left them vulnerable to cracking, officials acknowledge.