Of all Caltrans’ Bay Bridge bungles so far, it quietly settles the deadliest one

Amid all the bad publicity of its Bay Bridge bungling, Caltrans has put one deadly screw-up behind it. It has settled for $700,000 claims brought by the family of the trucker who died in 2009 shortly after Caltrans opened that poorly-executed S-curve connecting the old span to Yerba Buena Island. (It’s being demolished, even as I type this.) The driver died after his truck tipped and went through the guard rail, plunging onto the island below.

The Chronicle’s Jaxon Van Derbeken, who’s been all over Caltrans’ multiple fiascos involving the years-late, $6.4 billion span, reports that the S-curve design was never properly approved in-house by Caltrans. Some lower level engineer changed the specifications, which didn’t meet standards, without the chief engineer signing off, according to court documents in the family’s lawsuit. Oh, and as part of the settlement, Caltrans admits no wrongdoing—of course.

Image: ABC 7