The Leimert Bridge: Seismic Retrofit Update &
Recent Events

A Public Works Agency presentation was made to Oakmore Homes Association on January 9, 2003. After public comment at the meeting by Oakmore residents and by our City Council person, Jean Quan, the association formally requested that PWA incorporate necessary repairs to the roadway, railings and utility structures within the larger retrofit job. The association contacted the Director of Public Works for Oakland, State Assembly person Wilma Chan, State Senator Don Perata and CalTrans representatives.

In May 2003 Claudette Ford, Raul Godinez II and Michael Neary, all of the Public Works Agency, requested additional funds from the Oakland City Council so that PWA could expand the contract with their structural consultant URS Corporation to include the design of the roadway and railing work into the construction documents.

In August of 2003 Michael Neary of the PWA formally committed to increasing the scope of retrofit work to include the following items. The City will have to pay for these items with local funding, separate from the Federal (HBRPP) retrofit funds.

• Repaving of the roadway
• Repairs to the concrete guard walls
• Replacement of the chain link fence with more suitable railings.

(Click for a larger image)

The increased repair scope is great news for Oakland because it means residents will benefit from safety improvements that can be experienced every day, not just during an earthquake. Formerly, the seismic retrofit project was only going to include mandated reinforcement of the bridge structure 'below the deck' to prevent a total collapse.

During September and October of 2003, association representatives met with PG&E and the Oakland Electrical Division, because they (not Public Works) are in charge of the utility wires attached to the bridge. Scheduled undergrounding of electrical wires in Oakmore could be a decade or more in the future, but the association believes that utilities attached directly to the bridge should be relocated into conduits on the bridge sooner, during the imminent seismic retrofit. This would contain the electrical lines in conduits and eliminate the risks from swaying and snapping of the old trolley poles and wires, fire from electrical arcing and neighborhood blackouts. To date OHA requests have been rebuffed with concerns about the cost of adding electrical conduits to the bridge. However, it seems obvious that coordinating the conduit work with a bridge retrofit would be prudent and highly cost effective.

(Click for a larger image)

The Oakmore Homes Association has a copy of the URS Corporation engineering plans for the seismic retrofit and they are available for viewing by all interested Oakmore residents. There has been some controversy surrounding the proposed retrofit design scheme, as it proposes to eliminate the horizontal braces from the bridge and encapsulate the remaining vertical columns with steel casings (similar to what is happening on many freeway overpasses in the State). This could substantially degrade the beauty of the design that George A. Posey and the other engineers created in 1926. There is some question about whether that is a necessary loss in the upgrade process or simply the result of misguided cost-cutting design measures. We all agree the bridge must be made safe from collapse in the event of a major quake and some aesthetic compromises are inevitable. However, the historic landmark status of the bridge suggests that a more sensitive design solution might be in order.

As of July 2005 the Oakland Public Works timeline for the retrofit project is:

• URS Corporation engineering consultant to revise construction plans and specifications (completion by end of 2005)
• MacTec environmental consultant preparation of Environmental Impact Report (completion by end of 2005)
• Review of completed construction and environmental documents by CalTrans (after completion and submittal of above doc’s to them by City of Oakland )
• City of Oakland to solicit bids from contractors (after doc’s approval by CalTrans)
• Construction is tentatively scheduled to begin March 2007 and will be managed by the City of Oakland
• The budget for the work on the Leimert Bridge is approximately $1.3 million, and for the Park Boulevard Viaducts it is an additional $700 thousand.

Many thanks to the City of Oakland Public Works Agency: Past Director Claudette Ford, Current Director Raul Godinez II , Assistant Director (Design & Construction Services) Mike Neary, Transportation Services Manager Wladimir Wlassowsky and to City Councilmember Jean Quan, and her Chief of Staff Richard Cowan for being responsive to Oakmore's concerns.

July 18, 2005

The Leimert Bridge : Historical background