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HISTORY |
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OUR TEAM |
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AL ZAMPA |
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GROUNDBREAKING |
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SUSPENSION BRIDGE DESIGNS |
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CONSTRUCTION: |
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BRIDGE LINKS |
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January 31, 2003 |
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The giant ship emerges out of the fog. 1:30 PM, Friday, January 31, 2003 |
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January 31, 2003: We were disappointed that the bridge deck was not raised on Thursday as planned. Again, the following day, Friday, Jan. 31 we were set to spend our non-student day at the construction site. The ship could not navigate safely to the site due to dense fog. Mrs. Allison was having lunch with some other teachers at the Nantucket restaurant located near the Crockett anchorage when the ship emerged out of the fog. She rushed back to school and got the camera to take these shots as the tugboats inched the huge ship into position. The first piece of the deck is now scheduled to be raised tomorrow, Saturday, February 1, the beginning of the Chinese New Year. Hope this means Good Luck for the rest of the bridge completion this year!!! |
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This photo has been enhanced somewhat so you can see the detail better through the fog. It is a close-up of the center deck section, the first section set to be raised Saturday. This section will be raised to the deck using 6 strand jacks mounted on the edges of the deck. These are the reddish structures seen here. This method has only been used once before in Hong Kong and never before has it been used to raise a piece involving a swing into position. Strands, hanging from the main cables will be attached to the jacks. The strands will be coiled precisely using computers so the deck piece does not tilt. Bart described the jack process as if you were climbing a rope, hand over hand. The jack will grip the strand, climbing and pulling the 600-ton deck piece into place. In the center of the strait there is a pier supporting the old bridge. The ship can't be positioned under the spot where the deck piece can be hoisted directly into place. It must first be lifted straight, then guided at an angle by two strands which will shift it into place. Workers will be lifted to the deck using a man-lift from the center pier and they will complete the job of securing the deck section to the suspender cables. |
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The 1927 bridge deck was raised into place using counterweights suspended from a system of pulleys. You can learn more about the history of this and other San Francisco Bay bridges from this great UC Berkeley site: | |
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| February 1, 2003: At dawn the construction site was all lit up and it looked as if the crew on the bridge was busy getting ready for the big lift. The huge crane was swinging back and forth. But at about 9:30 AM Bart said that overnight the boat had lost an anchor at its front end. They were going to try and replace it at 10 AM which left a 15 minute window to get the deck piece lifted off the ship before the tides shifted ....another disappointment. The lift of the first section of bridge deck will have to wait until tomorrow, February 2nd. Stay tuned! |
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February 2, 2003: Today is a perfectly clear day--a great day for raising the deck. This abrupt weather change is typical of winters in the north San Francisco Bay--one day we can be socked in with low-lying tule fog, and the next, frosty air can clear the fog away. |
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After waiting anxiously for over an hour, we saw the
workers move to the side of the ship and look up at the deck
piece. The workers on the main cable above were all looking
down. At about 11:55 the large deck section began to inch up off
of its seating on the ship. Hoorah! You could now see that the
curve of the main cable had altered due to the weight of the deck
hanging from it.
To see the larger picture of this moment, click on the thumbnail image and those below. |
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It will take 3-4 days to swing the first deck piece in place. While this is being done, the next piece in the center will be raised along side it. The last deck piece on this shipment is the most difficult piece to fit, the piece closest to the Vallejo side...more details on that later. |
This image gives you a good view of the strand jacks that were slowly hauling the strands and coiling them around the red wheels. You can also see how the deck is aerodynamically shaped to resist the forces of the winds coming through the Carquinez Straits |
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Советуем купить магазины ювелирных украшений на нашем сайте. Ювелирные украшения в мск. Compare the curve of the cable before the lift on the left with the picture to the right after the lift. |
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Bart Ney, the Cal Trans Public Information Manager for the bridge project, was happy and relieved as he shared information with bridge-gazers. Throughout the morning and afternoon local people and bridge fans came to observe the progress of the deck raising operation. More press coverage was expected, but many crews were diverted to cover the tragic Space Shuttle explosion. | |
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February 2,2003: When we arrived at the site (Mrs. Allison was already there), the boat was out and they were starting to raise the first piece for the deck. We were very excited to see that the action was beginning to take place. If you look closely to the right side of the boat, you will see that the deck is very slowly risen. You can see the strands attached to it from the main cable. | |
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February 2, 2003: Here is a picture of the center piece of the deck being raised. From the time we arrived to the time we left, this piece didn't move much or even if it did, no one could really tell. | |
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February 2, 2003: Lanaudia decided that the deck piece was moving too slow, so she chose to help "speed up the process." | |
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February 3, 2003: Click on the thumbnail to see the larger picture. You'll be able to see that the diagonal strands have been attached to the deck piece and the piece is tilted. Workers are preparing it for the difficult maneuver of swinging it into place in the exact center of the bridge. | |
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The ship has now moved to the north of the center pier in preparation for lifting the next piece of deck. An observer asked Bart how critical the tides were to the coordination of lifting the deck sections off the ship. His response was."Tides are everything to this operation!" The pieces must be lifted at high tide so that the ship does not fall away from the deck piece when it is attached to the taut strands from above. | |
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February 4, 2003: Look at the larger picture of this! NO! These are not flying carpets hovering over the construction site. The giant deck sections are suspended from the strands and are slowly being lifted into place. The left (northern) section is being lifted straight up into place, while the smaller piece is in the process of being swung into place along side it. From this picture, you can really see how far this piece has to be swung over. | |
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You'll notice that the Japanese ship is gone. It has been docked for about a week while these two sections get lifted, attached to the suspender cables, and released from the strands. The strand jacks will then be lifted down to the next two deck pieces to be raised when the ship comes back. | |
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Thursday, February 6th, 5:30 PM: During the week we watched as the second deck piece was lowered......... | |
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.......then raised back up again. While this was going on the first deck piece in the center was slowly being shifted to the left (north) into position. This picture was taken Sunday, February 9th, 2:00 PM. The ship is still docked off of Rodeo in the Bay. Lots of people are still coming to view the bridge progress. A good spot to look is the lower parking lot of the Dead Fish Restaurant. They won't mind if you don't stay too long--you might even want to stay for some tasty crab chowder. | |
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February 15, 2003: This shot shows four deck
sections now suspended from the main cable. Since this picture was
taken, as of February 17, there are now five sections in place.
The crews are getting faster at raising the deck. The boat docks
off of Rodeo and sneaks in on high tide to offload each section.
Between raising each section, the strand jacks have to be removed from
the deck and sent over to Mare Island to be cleaned and inspected.
They are then mounted on the next section while it is still on the boat.
The BIG NEWS is that the next 8 sections have arrived on their boat from Japan. Mrs. Allison saw the boat when she was riding the ferry to San Francisco. The boat is now waiting in the Bay between S.F. and Oakland. |
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There's a new website in town! Mrs. Allison and other members of the Vallejo & Crockett communities are meeting together to plan the Bridge Opening Day Celebration in October or November. They have a new website: www.alzbridge.com where you can find out about their progress, see more pictures, and find out where you can purchase cool Al Zampa Bridge t-shirts. | |
| February 23, 2003: 7 deck pieces are in place and the preparations are being made to lift the 8th into place on the Vallejo side. Some of these pictures were taken from Crockett and some from the Maritime Academy in Vallejo. The 8th deck piece is perhaps the most difficult piece to raise. The space between the north tower and the land is too narrow and shallow for the ship. The deck piece must be lifted off of the ship and transferred onto a barge which is a better fit in the tight space. In its next move, the deck will be lifted from the barge using the strand jacks. Diagonal strands will then shift the deck north, closer to the cliff edge. When the deck meets the cliff edge, it will be set upon a set of skids which will "walk" the piece into place where it abuts the roadbed on land. Finally, the deck will be hoisted into place and attached to the short suspender cables, the last ones on the Vallejo side. The third picture below shows where the barge is now and where the deck must be lifted to. | ||
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People are remarking that the bridge deck looks more like a skateboard ramp than a roadbed. If you look at old pictures of the G.G Bridge being built, you will see this same curve. |
On the Vallejo side, preparations were being made to transfer the deck section from the ship offshore to the barge. |
Here you can see the barge as it is pushed into place. Tomorrow a high tide is expected and the barge will move along side the ship for the transfer. |
High above, workers were working on Sunday to prepare the strands that will lift the deck from the barge. It's amazing to think that all these little ant-people helped to build something SO BIG!!! |
| February 26, 2003: Three days later, the deck piece now rests on the barge awaiting its move into place. This will happen either tomorrow or Friday. High tide is between 10 and 11 a.m. Ironworkers expect to have the piece in place by Sunday. You can tell how far this piece has to move by looking at these shots. On the right, you can see the huge spools which wind up the strand as the jacks hoist the deck piece up. | |||
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| February 27, 2003, 5:15 p.m.: The last section of bridge deck from the first ship is now being hoisted into place. Today was a beautiful day for bridge watching! |
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March 2, 2003, 11:45 a.m.: Diagonal strands have been attached to the section and it is slowly being shifted north, closer to its destination on the Vallejo end of the bridge. These pictures were taken from the California Maritime Academy in Vallejo, the closest spot from which the public can view the raising of this section. | ||
| Next Monday, March 3rd will be the third anniversary of the Groundbreaking Ceremony for the beginning of the Alfred Zampa Memorial Bridge. WOW! It seems like yesterday......check out more on the final year's progress on the "Year 4 and Completion" Page. | |||
