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Filed Under:Bay Bridge, Bolts, Caltrans, Corrosion Tests, Margie Shafer, Rods, Testing
OAKLAND, CA - JULY 12: Workers walk on the eastern span of the newly constructed San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on July 12, 2013 in Oakland, California. Workers began paving the roadway of the newly constructed east span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge just days after bridge officials announced that the opening of the span would be delayed once again as work continues to install large steel saddles over two seismic safety devices to fix a problem with broken bolts on two shear keys. The bridge has been under construction since 2002 with an estimated price tag of $6.3 billion and will have the world's tallest Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) tower once completed. (Photo by Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)Workers walk on the eastern span of the newly constructed San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge on July 12, 2013 in Oakland. (Justin Sullivan/Getty Images)

OAKLAND (KCBS) – Caltrans is now performing stress corrosion tests on a random sampling of rods on the eastern foundation of the Bay Bridge.

The testing of 13 rods on the Bay Bridge was prompted by early breakage of bolts made from similar materials.

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“The material that snapped was grade A354 BD bolts. These are also grade A354 BD bolts,” said engineer Bill Casey. “They’re estimated from a different time period.”

Casey said the rods they are testing were made in 2010. The corrosion testing is to see how the material will perform in a marine environment, over decades and under tension.

“What we’re doing here is extremely accelerated. It takes years and decades for that kind of hydrogen to get inside the bar from stress corrosion cracking,” said Casey.

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Bolt expert Bob Brignano said essentially, full-scale laboratory field tests are being done on the Caltrans property.

“We’ve built these test setups. We have a total of 13 setups we’re going to build here,” Brignano said. “Some of them will go through multiple rounds of testing. We’re doing a lot of testing.”

The testing will take months, with 23 days of testing, mimicking a decades-long corrosion process.

It’s important to note, these tests will not impact the bridge’s opening.

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