September marks the 10th anniversary of the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge's East Span. To celebrate, here are 10 facts about the bridge.
On Sept 2, 2013 — Labor Day — the new East Span was opened to traffic starting about 10 p.m. after a day of ceremonies where then Lt. Gov. Gavin Newsom reenacted the chain cutting that marked the opening of the original Bay Bridge in 1936.
The famous Bay Bridge Troll, rescued from the old East Span made an appearance at the ceremony. The hand-crafted, 18-inch metal troll lived on the old Bay Bridge ever since the span was restored to service after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and was intended to protect the span.
A new troll was unveiled in a warehouse in the bridge construction staging area, and temporarily installed on the new East Span just minutes before it opened to traffic. Forged out of iron by a local craftsman, the new troll stands more than 2-feet tall and carries a hammer in one hand, and a torch in the other.
While the ceremony was occurring, crews put the finishing touches on the bicycle/pedestrian path that traverses the eastbound direction of the span. The path opened the following day.
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