Contractor: Tutor-Saliba Corporation
Owner: California Department of Transportation
Winner: 2008 Caltrans Partnering in Motion Award

The West Approach is a one-mile stretch of Interstate 80 in the heart of a thriving residential and commercial area in San Francisco. The California Department of Transportation deemed the structure, originally constructed in the 1930s and partially rebuilt in the 1950s, as lacking adequate seismic resilience. However, a straightforward retrofit of the existing structure was too costly, time-consuming and detrimental to traffic. Caltrans chose a retrofit-by-replacement, in which traffic would be diverted onto temporary roadways so the original structure could be demolished and rebuilt.

This was considered one of the most complex projects in Caltrans history. The West Approach needed to be rebuilt in its original footprint, but had to be done in a way that did not adversely affect the almost 300,000 vehicles that cross the structure daily. Challenges that the team faced in this extraordinary effort included the following mandates:

• No loss of mainline and ramp capacity during peak commuter hours.
• Staying within the original footprint of the structure (no additional right-of-way acquisition)
• Minimizing nighttime disruptions to nearby residents

Through the partnering effort the West Approach team effectively worked together to eliminate potentially significant delays to the project, and with these efforts were able to complete the project seven months ahead of schedule. At the beginning of the project, the team encountered a number of unforeseen circumstances that were estimated to possibly delay the project 19 months. Through innovative and aggressive re-sequencing of traffic and demolition staging, the team was able to eliminate the delay.

The project’s budget was set at $429M with a target completion date of August 2009. The project completed at budget, seven months ahead of schedule in January 2009 and began in 2003.

In the face of early technological challenges the partnership truly “owned the game” by acknowledging that it needed face to face time with the Caltrans design team in Sacramento. Senior management got the key designers to attend the partnering workshops and spend whatever time was necessary with the team in clarifying and resolving constructability issues.

“I am a proud governor today because this new bridge is a powerful reminder that the California people always rise to the challenge.”

Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger

On Labor Day 2008 the project team closed the eastbound lanes of the Bay Bridge to traffic. What might have been a disaster on one of the busiest road holidays of the year, was not seen as a hinderance to the public as the team was able to effectively communicate with the traveling public and put in place alternative routes and recommendations for commuters, before the closure began.

Throughout the life of a $429M, six year project one might expect a few challenges or issues confront the team. What separates a good team from a truly World Class team is not the amount of issues that they encounter, but rather their ability to work through and resolve the issue quickly. Though this team encountered issues, they kept the project moving forward and up-lined the issues if they were not able to resolve them.