Jill Harness
Repurposing The Bay Bridge
by Jill Harness - October 19, 2009 - 9:51 AM

baybridgeapts

The San Francisco Bay Bridge has been going through a lot of construction lately as contractors are struggling to build a new, more earthquake-proof bridge. The biggest issue has been closing the existing bridge as little as possible for the sake of commuters. The quick, section-by-section construction is quite fascinating and time lapse videos show the complexities of the detailed process.

But some people are concerned about what will be done with the existing bridge when it is removed. While the city currently plans to destroy it, Good Magazine has reported a few architects from San Francisco have a much cooler and environmentally friendly idea—turn it into a massive community garden and apartment complex. As a past resident of SF, I have to say, this would be a very welcome proposal: San Franciscans always welcome new gardens and housing is always a premium investment in the area.

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Comments (7)

  1. I dunno…I thought the whole point of replacing the bridge was that this one isn’t terribly earthquake proof and hence is considered dangerous should there be a bad quake.

    And these guys want to put gardens and housing on it?

    I don’t care how much of a premium housing is at there, I can’t see them successfully leasing many units when their sales pitch is “It hangs out a hundred feet up over the bay and was closed to vehicular traffic since it was deemed too dangerous should there be an earthquake.”

    The gardens are nominally less dangerous, due to their limited occupancy.

    But apartments? As cool as it’d be to live out on a bridge like that, I’d pass.

    posted by Jim T on 10-19-2009 at 10:13 am

  2. Taking the quakes out of the equation – I wouldn’t want to live in an apartment out over the water that would sway in a storm.

    posted by PartiallyDeflected on 10-19-2009 at 1:17 pm

  3. Where’s the “mental” part of the mental floss audience? Those two comments completely misunderstood the intended use.

    posted by David on 10-19-2009 at 2:50 pm

  4. they do intend to move the bridge to land, I was assuming.

    posted by ac on 10-19-2009 at 3:28 pm

  5. Please note the “when it is removed” part of the article. Reading articles is helpful before criticizing them.

    posted by ribbit on 10-19-2009 at 4:12 pm

  6. Everyone needs to read the actual link (pretty cool by the way). They want to leave the bridge and earthquake retrofit (article talks about how expensive that would be).

    posted by Dave on 10-19-2009 at 4:26 pm

  7. Looking at the link,it seems to me that they want to leave it in place. Also, the William Gibson story in the reference leaves it in place. As a practicing bridge engineer, I have to say that that much steel in a salt-air environment is going to cost a fortune in paint on a regular basis. I don’t know the size of the market they are looking at, but this will definitely be one of those things where if you have to ask the price, you can’t afford it or the HOA dues.

    posted by Noel on 10-19-2009 at 5:54 pm

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