U.S. authorities have re-opened a major bridge in the West Coast city
of San Francisco after completing repairs to a cracked section a day
ahead of schedule.
The San Francisco-Oakland Bay bridge
re-opened Tuesday morning as
commuters returned to work following the three-day Labor Day holiday
weekend. Initial traffic was light as most travelers had not expected
the bridge to re-open so soon.
The 73-year-old bridge connects
San Francisco with heavily-populated cities to the east. It typically
carries about 260,000 vehicles a day.
Authorities had closed the
bridge Thursday night as part of a separate project to replace a
section of the east span with one that is better able to withstand
earthquakes. Crews used the closure to inspect the bridge and found the
crack.
Inspectors had planned to keep the bridge shut for
repairs until Wednesday morning. But, authorities say crews worked
throughout Monday night to finish the job.
Some information for this report was provided by AP.