The new Bay Bridge is about to get one step closer to completion this afternoon as crews lift the first sections of the bridge’s tower into place.
Four pieces, each standing 155-feet tall and weighing 1,190 tons, will be hoisted into place using the floating crane on the bay that has been assembling pieces of the parallel roadways since February.
The tower sections are the first shipment of 20 sections that make up the four individual tower legs.
This shipment departed from Shanghai on June 18 on its month-long voyage to Pier 7 at the Port of Oakland. Once the pieces arrived, inspectors examined the sections to make sure they were free of damage before barges transported the steel pieces to the construction site.
Mayor Gavin Newsom will join state and local leaders this afternoon to commemorate the historic moment in the construction of the replacement structure, which is expected to open to traffic in late 2013.
