From Peter Buxtun,
Our Transportation Correspondent

“We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them.” – Albert Einstein

Continuous calamities plague our Bay Bridge. First it was shut down to install a huge S Curve. That chaotic closure was extended when cracks were suddenly found in a huge beam that was was not near the S Curve. It was hurriedly fixed after extra days of chaos.

The fix failed at rush hour, weeks later, dropping the 5,000 pound steel beam into traffic – luckily not killing anyone. This calamity caused another closure, while the failed fix was re-fixed. Caltrans  “took that opportunity” to improve road-striping in the S Curve, where there had been a rash of smash-ups. The striping looked great.

Today we have new calamity. The “K Rail” failed when a poor guy driving an 18-wheeler went into the S Curve (like we all once did), perhaps at 65 MPH. He lost it and went through the rail, crashing 100 feet down onto the rocks. The K Rail might stop cars, but it did not stop his truck.

And Caltrans was mumbling recently about “a need” to close the bridge down again for more fixes.

Our poor Bay Bridge! Like the Titanic in 1912, it is now a symbol for our age of self-delusion.