About the author  ⁄ Ronald F. Middlebrook, S.E.

Ronald F. Middlebrook, S.E. (ronfranco@gmail.com), is retired from Middlebrook + Louie in San Francisco, California, and is a Past President of the Structural Engineers Association of Northern California (SEAONC).

“This marks the physical beginning of the greatest bridge yet erected by the human race.”
President Herbert Hoover at the groundbreaking ceremony, 1933

The San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is one of the greatest American bridges. Built during the Great Depression, the bridge soon became known as the “working horse of Northern California,” carrying the heaviest traffic in the region.

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Structural Forum is intended to stimulate thoughtful dialogue and debate among structural engineers and other participants in the design and construction process. Any opinions expressed in Structural Forum are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of NCSEA, CASE, SEI, C3Ink, or the STRUCTURE® magazine Editorial Board.

The Bay Bridge is one of the grandest engineering achievements in American history, as described in the Feature article this month. However, the recent renovation has not added a single lane to relieve traffic congestion, which has a negative impact on the Bay Area and California economies. There is one obvious solution for the problem – to build a second crossing between San Francisco and Oakland on an alignment approximately parallel to the original bridge.

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