On its face, this doesn't have much to do with TAA topics but, read on to see…

Repairing MacArthur Maze Could Take Months
The chief engineer in charge of reconstructing the mangled ramps connecting Interstate 80 to two major East Bay freeways said this morning that it could take six weeks to several months to get the steel necessary to complete the job.

A connector to Interstate 580 collapsed onto the southbound Interstate 880 connector after a crash early Sunday morning in which a tanker truck carrying 8,600 gallons of gasoline crashed on the highway below and burst into flames. Steel holding up the section of I-580 started to melt, causing pavement to pull away from support beams.

Today, Chief Engineer Rick Land warned that reconstruction could be delayed by a steel shortage, which is making it difficult for the state agency to locate the materials needed to fix the roadways.

He said it would take anywhere from six weeks to several months to have the steel made to order for the I-580 ramp, but that the agency may be able to "borrow" materials from other Caltrans sites. Officials are still evaluating construction needs on the Interstate 880 ramp, where the truck actually crashed.

Agency spokesman Jeff Weiss said agency officials spent all day Sunday attempting to order steel, but were not having much luck. He noted that there is $10 billion worth of construction currently going on in the Bay Area -- and all those projects need concrete and steel.

"The steel is going to have to be special ordered and custom fabricated," he said. "We were calling yesterday getting assessments of what's available; it's a matter of getting someone who can fill our order. Everything is hinging on getting the steel."

Caltrans managed to begin demolition work on Sunday night and by early today workers had removed one large piece of the I-580 interchange that had been hanging all the way to the ground.

The next step -- removing the remaining portions of the I-580 roadway -- began this morning and is more delicate work, because they do not want any of the concrete or rebar to smash down onto the I-880 and further damage that ramp.

Shortly before 8 a.m. today, several workers climbed into a backhoe perched precariously above the gaping hole left by the collapse of the I-580 ramp and began using a pneumatic hammer to drill through a piece of the roadway that is still hanging down.

Land said workers will continue to chip away at the upper ramp, then will be able to assess whether the I-880 segment below needs to be completely replaced or just shorn up.

At the least, Land said, the steel girders that line the highway will have to be reinstalled, as they were warped and buckled from the fire's estimated 3,000-degree heat.

The state may be reimbursed by the Federal Highway Administration if the projet qualifies as emergency restoration work, Caltrans officials said. FHA officials are on their way to the site, Land said.

On the ground under the accident site, big piles of concrete and rusty pilings were covered by tarps this morning.

Workers have stuck support beams under the broken parts of the I-580 ramp to ensure there is no further collapse. A CHP spokesman said officials hope to install a barrier today that will block off the shuttered roadways; currently, police officers are stationed at the merge to keep drivers away.

Caltrans is using X-ray equipment to examine the burned columns and determine whether they need to be replaced entirely.

The work is not expected to affect the ongoing reconstruction of the Bay Bridge's San Francisco approach, nor the construction of the eastern span. The company that had been doing demolition on the San Francisco approach, Cleveland Wrecking, finished that work this weekend and relocated equipment to the site of the downed East Bay freeway.

Weiss said while traffic remains light, he was amazed anyone was driving through the area at all.

"We're surprised there's a backup on westbound I-80 -- we thought people would avoid it if they could," he said.

CHP spokesman Mike Wright said today that the extensive destruction made it difficult for investigators to truly know how fast the tanker driver was going when he crashed. The driver, who walked a mile and a half to receive help, is hospitalized with second-degree burns. On Sunday, CHP officials said James Mosqueda, 51, had been going too fast.

"I don't know if we'll ever be able to tell that he was speeding because there's not much left up there in the way of skid marls. We're going to examine the area," he said. "The best information will come from the driver when he gives a statement. Then we'll give our collision report to the district attorney, who will decide what to do."
So, if we cannot get a small amount of commercial steel to replace a couple overpasses quickly, how are we supposed to build warships, tanks, and aircraft in a wartime footing? Good thing most of our major steel producers like Bethlehem have closed their doors., right?