New Bay Bridge black eye for Caltrans—faulty bolts on bike path railing

Now it’s the small bolts used to anchor the railing along the Bay Bridge eastern span’s bicycle path that are failing. Scores of the one-inch diameter bolts have sheared off along the 1.2-mile bike path (that’s a Caltrans rendering, above), meaning that hundreds more will have to be inspected and, if necessary, replaced, says the Chronicle’s Jaxon Van Derbeken. The problem pales compared to those surrounding the steel rods crucial to the bridge’s seismic safety and more than 2,300 metal fasteners, but as another reason to doubt the soundness of the $6.4 billion bridge, it’s yet another blow to Caltrans.