Retrofit Project: Alameda is One Bridge Away from Complete

With two bridges seismically retrofitted and one more to go, Alameda is on its way to having all its Estuary bridges updated to standards designed to keep them from collapsing in an earthquake.

Whether the bridges will be functional after a big temblor and provide Alamedans with access on and off the Island is another story.

The High Street and Park Street bridges have already been brought up to the "no collapse" standard. In the last two years both received upgrades — that is, the bases of each of the bridges were beefed up and the structures rebalanced in order to prevent collapse in a quake.

The Fruitvale Bridge will receive the same no-collapse upgrade beginning Oct. 31, with construction scheduled to run through early March of next year. 

The upgrades won't necessarily prevent the pavement on the bridges from cracking, likely rendering them impassable to vehicles while the roads undergo repairs.

That’s why some had hoped Alameda County would secure funding in time to also give the Fruitvale (Miller Sweeney) Bridge a “Lifeline” retrofit — bringing it up to standards that would hopefully allow it to be used post-quake. But that added upgrade would have meant an extra $40 million in costs for the county.

“Nobody found the money to do that,” said Beverly Johnson, Alameda City Council member and former mayor. She said the county has tried to find sources of revenue for the project for the last three to four years.

“The idea was to have at least one bridge in Alameda upgraded to lifeline [status],” Johnson said.

The lifeline upgrade would entail the construction of an entirely new and stronger bridge, built to standards that would hopefully allow it to remain functional after a large earthquake.

A feasibility study completed in 2003 had identified the Fruitvale Bridge as the best suited for the lifeline retrofit. Built in 1973, the bridge is much newer than the High Street and Park Street bridges.

The Fruitvale Bridge also sits close to the water and doesn’t have any overhead structures that would obstruct the flow of cranes or large equipment that might need to be transported to the Island post-quake.

For now, city officials are content with the no-collapse upgrades. Art Carrera, the principal civil engineer for the Public Works Agency of Alameda County, says it’s important to keep in mind that the odds of all three bridges becoming damaged and not functional is pretty small.

“At the end of the day, it’s about life safety,” Carrera said.

It will cost an estimated $550,000 to upgrade the Fruitvale Bridge. During renovation the bridge will be on a "12-9" schedule — alternately closed 12 days, then operational for the next nine days. In a tweak to that schedule, it will be open from Dec. 24 to Jan. 1.

The funding to upgrade the three bridges came from the federal goverment and Proposition 1B.

The Bay Farm Island Bridge is not included in the county’s plans because it is owned by the state. According to Alameda County Supervisor Wilma Chan, that bridge is up to earthquake standards.

Looking ahead, the likelihood of the county eventually securing funds to bring the Fruitvale Bridge to lifeline standards is small.

“Honestly, I don’t see a realistic possibility of that happening in the foreseeable future,” Johnson said.

Johnson says that in a time when renovation projects are low on the totem pole of funding priorities at both the state and county level, the city of Alameday is fortunate enough to have all its bridges brought up to code.

“In Alameda we pretty much understand we rely on the bridges and depend on them to get on and off the Island,” Johnson said.