Richmond Bridge Reopens After Scary, Frustrating Day of Falling Concrete Chunks

Update: Caltrans, Insisting Richmond-San Rafael Span Is Safe, Details Repair Plans

The Richmond-San Rafael Bridge finally reopened Thursday night after a lengthy closure prompted by large pieces of concrete falling from the upper deck onto the roadway of the lower deck.

The bridge was originally closed at about 11 a.m. after a report of a vehicle being struck by a large chunk of concrete.

Just after 3 p.m., California Highway Patrol posted on Facebook that Caltrans engineers determined they could open one lane in each direction and still safely do their repair work.

They changed their minds shortly after 4 p.m.

"Unfortunately opening one lane in each direction was unsuccessful and the flowing traffic on the bridge caused additional pieces of roadway to come loose and fall," Marin CHP wrote in a post on Facebook.

Thirty minutes later officials said "let's try this again" and announced one lane would be open eastbound (from San Rafael to Richmond), while westbound traffic would remain completely closed.

Throughout the evening commute, all westbound lanes remained closed and additional lanes were slowly opened to traffic in the eastbound direction. Around 7:30 p.m., westbound lanes were fully reopened, and Caltrans began opening the rest of the eastbound lanes.

Highway patrol officials cautioned drivers to expect major delays and very heavy traffic, and advised travelers to take alternate routes.

Caltrans said previously that the bridge would reopen to all traffic at 6 p.m.

According to a CHP spokesperson, crews searched the bridge for damage, but only found debris in one location. Earlier in the afternoon, Marin CHP also posted on Facebook that Caltrans engineers were on-site examining the problem and more Caltrans personnel were en route to find a solution.

The CHP shared these photos of the concrete found in the roadway:

The closure happened after one driver reported falling concrete hitting their car at 10:30 a.m. Crews responding to the call found pieces of concrete in the road.

There have been no injuries. However, CHP Marin did tweet that a Caltrans truck was hit as drivers stuck on the bridge attempted to redirect traffic themselves.

The sudden closure took a number of people in the process of driving across the bridge by surprise, and they took to social media to express their frustration.

"Yes, please what should those of us trapped on the bridge do????" wrote Becca Werlin.

By 1 p.m. all cars had been escorted off the bridge from the initial closure. However, new drivers found themselves stuck when officers closed the bridge again at 4 p.m. after temporarily opening part of it.

This post will be updated with more information as we get it.