MacArthur Maze Repairs

When a gasoline tanker rig flipped over on an elevated interstate highway connector ramp on April 29, 2007, the massive explosion and burning fuel warped and collapsed a critical section of the San Francisco Bay Area’s MacArthur Maze. To allow traffic and commerce to flow through this vital artery quickly, the state undertook extreme measures to complete repairs in record-breaking time. The twisted steel and crumbled concrete that was the I-580 overpass also damaged the I-880 elevated ramp below. Such extensive damage could have been expected to take months to repair, but with the connectors so vital to commuters, the California Department of Transportation went to work around the clock under an emergency declaration. Only one week after the accident, the lower I-880 connector had been repaired and was reopened. The I-580 overpass was completed in just 26 days, due in part to a bonus of $200,000 paid for each day the work was completed sooner than two months after the accident.

Photo courtesy of California Department of Transportation, photographed by John Huseby.