The Bay Bridge, which connects East Bay (think Berkeley & Oakland) to San Francisco, is in the middle of a reconstruction project. The old half-span is still sitting out there, unconnected to anything, just jutting out from East Bay, ending before Treasure Island.
Here's a picture of the new section, before it was connected - you can see that it's just off to the side of the existing bridge.
Image from Small Business Exchange, Inc.
Kinda trippy, eh?
So, what should be done with the existing structure? I posted one concept back in September - where a bridge allows for cars (and hopefully bikes, pedestrians and maybe even light rail) on top and container-like houses on the bottom. In this situation, the entire space is available - and this bridge has TWO levels! Grad students at UC Berkeley's College of Environmental Design have come up with some additional ideas - green space, hotels, living space.
I like the idea of reusing this existing structure. It's part of the Bay Area's history, it's already built, doesn't add an environmental impact (assuming smart design) and effectively adds space to a desirable location. However,the new Bay Bridge is being constructed because the old one didn't meet earthquake safety rules - are those rules different for a vehicular load compared to a static, structural load (with movement only by people or relatively few cars)?
For more information about the Bay Bridge, check out this site - Bay Bridge Info.
No comments:
Post a Comment