Cost of Bay Bridge demolition rises amid complication

OAKLAND -- No one ever said it would be easy to tear down a 78-year-old bridge spanning halfway across San Francisco Bay.

Ten months after workers began dismantling the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge, drivers crossing the gleaming new bridge are rewarded with spectacular bay views where the steel truss structure once blocked their sightlines. But project costs for the painstaking demolition are rising amid construction, permitting and environmental uncertainties.

The massive project was six months behind schedule before it even began, thanks to resources reallocated to its $6.4 billion newer sister to make sure the new span opened in time for Labor Day last year. Bridge operators pumped in $12.7 million extra for the demolition to make up for lost time and get it back on schedule for a 2018 or sooner completion.

A view of the city of Oakland beyond the old eastern span of the Bay Bridge, photographed Sept. 8, 2014. (D. Ross Cameron/Bay Area News Group)

And then there are the birds.

Hundreds of cormorants have refused to leave their hangout spots under the old bridge, threatening to cause expensive delays.

Despite those problems, bridge operators said the project is back on schedule, and they are working hard on measures to hold down the new $271 million estimated cost of demolishing the 2.2 mile-long span. By the time they are finished, crews will have removed more than 58,000 tons of steel and 245,000 tons of concrete.

"Things are going well overall," said John Goodwin, a spokesman for the Bay Area Toll Authority, collector of bridge tolls to finance the project. "But there are definitely some challenges and uncertainties in taking apart a bridge piece by piece in a bay environment."

For every potential savings another potential costly delay pops up.

Big bucks might be saved if five of the bridge foundation piers can be left in place and turned into public recreation piers, a plan environmental regulators must approve.

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Cost of Bay Bridge demolition rises amid complication