San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge wins Excellence in Structural Engineering honor

Sacramento, Calif. — Caltrans announced that the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge received an Excellence in Structural Engineering Award from the Structural Engineers Association of California (SEAOC). This honor is awarded to projects that demonstrate outstanding achievement in creative design, technical innovation, best practices and demonstrated contributions to the public and profession of structural engineering.

“The new Bay Bridge is a stunning example of what engineers, architects and construction contractors can accomplish,” said Caltrans Director Malcolm Dougherty. “The Bay Bridge is a testament to engineering ingenuity, construction prowess and Caltrans’ commitment to safety and it is truly an honor to receive an award from SEAOC acknowledging the groundbreaking design and beauty of this bridge.”

The Bay Bridge won the “Award of Excellence,” the top honor, in the Infrastructure category, which honors excellence in the structural engineering analysis, design and construction of an infrastructure project. The award was presented at the SEAOC 2014 Annual Convention in Indian Wells, CA.

“SEAOC is an exceptional organization and their award offers reflection and comment on an absolutely exceptional structural achievement of this century and this generation of engineers,” said Dr. Brian Maroney, Caltrans Toll Bridge Program Chief Engineer. “This project is a product of not just bridge engineers, but also structural engineers, building engineers, civil engineers, environmental engineers and architects, who all came together for this very special project.”

“As the Engineer of Record for the new East Span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, it has been a tremendous privilege for T.Y. Lin International/Moffatt & Nichol, Joint Venture, to have had the opportunity to be involved in the design of this world-class, seismically-resilient structure," said Alvaro J. Piedrahita, P.E., President and Chief Executive Officer of T.Y. Lin International. "The East Span will serve the people of the Bay Area and the State of California for generations to come."

The new East Span of the Bay Bridge has achieved many firsts. The Guinness World Records has named the Bay Bridge the world’s longest self-anchored suspension span bridge (2,047 feet) and also the widest bridge in the world, with a total deck width of 258.33 feet that supports 10 lanes of traffic. This is the first suspension bridge without a connection between the road-decks and the tower. It is the first to use fusible shear links in its tower to protect the tower shafts during an earthquake, and its tower has the world’s largest cable saddle for a suspension bridge. And for the first time in history, pedestrians and cyclists have the chance to travel on the Bay Bridge.

Founded in 1932, SEAOC is the statewide professional organization for structural engineers. SEAOC seeks to advance the state-of-the-art and the state-of-the-practice of structural engineering to provide the public with structures of safe and dependable performance. Membership consists of four regional associations: the Structural Engineers Associations of Southern California, Northern California, San Diego and Central California. For more information on the organization, visit https://seaoc.org.

The Bay Bridge is also in the running to be named the best transportation project in the country by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, AAA and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. A record 73 projects from 36 states and the District of Columbia were entered into the 2014 America’s Transportation Awards competition and the Bay Bridge was selected as a Top Ten finalist. The Top Ten finalists are now competing for the People’s Choice Award, which will be selected by popular vote. Online voting will be open until Friday, October 24, where the public can cast their vote up to 10 times daily at https://nominate.americastransportationawards.org/Voting.aspx.