BART set to launch next stage of Transbay Tube retrofit

Written by jrood

Bay Area Rapid Transit in San Francisco, Calif., is continuing its work of earthquake safety strengthening of the Transbay Tube, which was not damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake but remains BART's top earthquake safety priority.

The Board of Directors authorized a contract of $7,735,000 to California Engineering Contractors of Pleasanton to install steel plating inside the 3.6-mile Transbay Tube. The work will be part of the 10-year Earthquake Safety Program to protect BART’s core system against a major earthquake.



“The safety of our passengers is BART’s number one responsibility and concern,” BART Board President John McPartland said. “Our Earthquake Safety Program retrofit started in the Transbay Tube and we are almost finished. This upcoming work is yet another indication that we take seriously our responsibility to prepare for the inevitability of a major earthquake.”

The contract approved by the board requires the contractor to bolt 2.5-inch steel plates on the concrete wall of the Transbay Tube. The work is expected to begin this Spring and be completed about two years later.
BART’s Earthquake Safety Program has been underway since 2001 and significant work to strengthen the Transbay Tube is already complete.

The Transbay Tube, connecting San Francisco to Oakland, carries about half of BART’s 365,000 daily weekday riders and, during the peak transbay commute hours, BART riders equal the number of Bay Bridge drivers, 50,000, reducing bridge congestion by half.


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