Problems plague the new Oakland Bay Bridge

Seems again we're hearing about cracked and deteriorating anchor rods on the new span of the Oakland Bay Bridge. This time it appears the potential failure calls continued use for daily service into question! The structure's inability to withstand a bay area sized earthquake seems likely.

This via SF Gate:

Experts say the only way such a high-strength rod could fail after becoming brittle was from exposure to hydrogen in the water.

Lisa Fulton, a Berkeley engineer and corrosion expert who has studied the problem on the bridge project, said the discovery "means that there doesn't have to be a lot of force on those rods for them to break."

"That could indicate that we don't need an earthquake for them to snap, that they are unreliable in the service loads that they are under now," she said. "The micro-cracking is a sure sign of hydrogen attack. It's a portent of catastrophe."

The span that should be named for Emperor Norton, appears to be just fine.