Old San Francisco Bay Bridge pier set for implosion

Traffic on the Bay Bridge will be held for about 15 minutes to avoid drivers being distracted by the demolition, and BART will hold its trains temporarily outside the Transbay Tube. The implosion of Pier E3, the equivalent of a five-story building weighing 20 million pounds, is scheduled for Saturday at 6:45 a.m. Stephanie Chuang reports. “I’m glad part of this historical event”, said Le.

Boats near the bridge will be diverted to about 1,500 feet from the area, Caltrans officials said. “We had a significant monitoring system in place that allowed us to do the implosion”, said Leah Robinson-Leach, a Bay Bridge spokesperson.

An animation showed how explosive charges will bring down the old Bay Bridge pier. The implosion was largely underwater.

Caltrans chose November for the implosion because that’s when there is the least impact on fish and mammals because many species, such salmon, herring and nesting birds aren’t around, according to Caltrans officials. “The knowledge will probably be important for figuring out one of the best technique for demolishing the remaining 21 piers”. Caltrans is now deciding how to proceed.

We’ll cut to the chase: It’s going to be very hard, if not impossible, to get a direct eyeball view of the widely publicized Bay Bridge pier implosion scheduled just off the shore of Yerba Buena Island on Saturday morning.