San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge

Structural Analysis of the West Span

During the conceptual design of the widening concepts of the West Spans of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, the CH2M Hill/SC Solutions Joint Venture conducted a series of studies for the Main Span as well as the various distribution structure options.  The methodology developed to obtain the proper stress and strain distribution in the suspension bridge was extremely important task as it greatly affected the global seismic response of the structure.  SC Solutions' scope for this project included the following activities:

• Developed methodology to obtain the proper stress and strain distribution for the suspension bridge.
• Conducted investigations of the proposed widening options.
• Quickly implemented an innovative screening process to narrow design options from 16 to 2.
• Performed structural evaluations for dead, wind, service, seismic and construction loads.
• Contributed to the development of an innovative jacking sequence procedure, which allowed for the implementation of the most economical design configuration.