up next on a sec look bay area bridges, we'll show you -- on a second look, bay area bridges. we'll show you the demolition of some gone by. we'll also talk to a man who's name is on one of those bridges and who's work helped build it. good evening i'm julie haener and this is a second look. if someone asks you to name the first bridge ever to cross san

francisco bay you might say the bay bridge which opened in late 1936. but almost a decade earlier the dumbarton bridge began operation. the dumbarton was closed this past weekend for seismic work. but that's nothing compared to the project in the early 1980s that replaced the entire bridge. the new dumbarton opened in 1982. two years later, crews blew up the old structure that had carried cars for 52 years. >> reporter: the 57-year-old bridge is slowly but surely disappearing. and today a small crowd gathered to watch the certain

dumbarton demise. the east tower went down today and you can see how strategic charges made it fall away from the new dumbarton bridge. >> just perfect. it looked beautiful. our biggest concern was to get the power away from the new bridge and we took it down with delays. we had a two second delay. we tried to get the power to drop and we cut it up in midair. from what i saw it was gorgeous. >> reporter: the experts were preparing for the blow up with 200 pounds worth of explosives with linear shaped charges. some 260-tons of steal had to be brought down.

if left in the water they would be a boating hazard. >> we sectionalized the bridge so they could come down in pieces. we cut it up into about 40-ton pieces. >> this bridge demolition will be going on for the next month. the west tower and span has to come down. the $3.2 million conversion project will result in fishing piers on both sides of the bay. >> what we're going to do right where it's in, they're going to put a steps on the channel so it'll be good fishing. >> reporter: right now however the blasting might be scaring the fish away. here in replay are the blasts again. a sight you might see in upcoming movies. demolition companies took their own video and will show them to

movie makers. >> it was difficult to bring down. but you know if it's not challenging. it's no fun. it was a good mental exercise but we're not finished yesterday. >> next week the west span will come down. any fisherman will tell you anything good requires time and patience. just south of the dumbarton bridge there's a decaying rail bridge that used to carry trains between the east bay and peninsula. it's been out of use for 30 years. part of it burned in 1998. that caused the western approach to collapse. about eight years ago, boaters okayed a ballot measure to fund something called dumbarton rail a commuter line between the same cities served by the auto bridge. the idea had a lot of promise as tom vacar reported in 2005. >> reporter: expect for the b.a.r.t. tube it's been many decades since commuters got to cross on

the dumbarton as commuters had for a long time. but now a rail line will be in place. >> we're going to take that old bridge out, put in a new bridge and rebuild that corridor. >> reporter: what will this new train look like? not a heck of a lot different than caltrain and other standard trains people have been riding for many years. the money is coming from transportation agencies in alameda, san mateo as well as bridge tolls paid by commuters. >> it's going to come into a new station in menlo park. it will continue on to redwood city. from there you'll either be able to go north to san francisco or south to san jose. >> reporter: in union city in the east bay, the service will also connect with b.a.r.t., the ace train and the amtrak capital corridor. if you build it, they will come says amco. >> i think the only way to get across is by the b.a.r.t. and that's up at the city. going all the way down san jose is also sometimes not an

option. so having something in the middle is good. >> the dumbarton rail project is still how are just an idea. when cost projections began to skyrocket. the metropolitan transportation commission rethought the dumbarton rail project. the dumbarton rail project remains on hold. still to come on a second look. we'll take you back to 1979 and the demolition of the original antioch bridge. >> and a bit later just how safe is this bay area bridge. a recent report might surprise you.

in 2003, the state dedicated a new cardena bridge. the bridge holds the name of

carpa. >> reporter: when we visited the new bridge just a few weeks ago, workers were still putting it together. grinding here and welding there. but it was a bridge for certain, tall, proud and graceful. built to take four lanes of traffic with a shoulder and with a wide walkway for pedestrians and cyclists. one of the best things about the bridge is it was built without killing anyone. >> as i recall in the olden days they almost had an acceptable death rate. the whole industry has changed to that the acceptable death rate is zero. >> no serious injury? >> none. >> reporter: channel 2 news has been able to follow the building of the bridge step by

step. first the concrete towers rose and we took our camera to the tower tops where you didn't have vertigo you weren't really looking down. the wind didn't seem to bother the workers as they went on the amazing business of stringing cable from tower to tower one strand at a time. as the bridge took shape it took on a sleek and modern look. the cross braces simply aren't there on this one. >> the design did not dictate that we needed a cross bracing. a whole bridge is a much lighter weight structure like the bay bridge or golden gate. >> reporter: one reason for the lightweight, the roadway is made of prefabricated steel sections to be bolted together here. the resulting structure is hollow. some caltrans engineers proved that to me by inviting me

downstairs. the interior is what the engineers call an orthotropic box. light but strong. experts can run utility without busting their neck. >> i have some questions for you, how long did it take? how much did it cost? how much concrete did it take. >> a little over three years to build the bridge. the towers themselves have 3, 3,000 metric tons of concrete in them. believe it or not the tower legs are hollow. on the west leg we have an elevator shaft and on the east we have a staircase. >> how much did it cost? >> it cost about $240 million for the suspension bridge alone. >> that doesn't seem so much. >> it's a bargain for bridges today. >> back in 1927 the first cardena bridge was considered an engineering marvel. the areas finest citizens dressed up to march across it on opening day. and a parade of cars tested out

one of its two lanes. that bridge still stands just to the east of the new structure. but it will be torn down next year having outlived its usefulness. the third span a four lane bridge built in 1958 will stay. >> once the opening celebrations are over this pedestrian walk way won't be open for a while. not until february. but when it is, it's going to be pretty nice. 12feet wide, room enough for walkers as well as bicyclists. a great place to take a stroll any time for the next 150 years or so. >> three years after the new bridge opened, ktvu's ken pritchett looked at the process of taking the old cardena bridge apart. >> the asphalt has been stripped away in the middle of old cartena bridge there's now a huge hole with a view to the water below. the 1927 span is nearing its ends adds caltrans crews take it apart piece by piece. >> a lot of people have been letting us know if they will be setting up charges and having a

controlled implosion. with the two bridges right next to it that's out of the question. >> reporter: the bridge will be disassembled not demolished. crews must be careful to contain toxic lead based paint. the steel will be recycle. it will cost $18,000 to renew a bridge that cost 8 million to build. >> it opened to traffic may 21st, 1927 which is the very day the charles lindburg landed in paris. because of that it was trumped in the news. >> reporter: the span was historic, in old photos you can see the bridge connecting to the lincoln highway making it part of the nation's most important coast to coast link. it was the bay area's first mayor bridge. and an icon for the town. >> it brings back memories as a kid. >> reporter: 89-year-old leo

sid has lived in crocket all his life and now volunteers. >> i remembered it as 65-cents a car, and 10-cents a passenger. >> reporter: when the state took over, the tolls went down. the old pictures also show the bridge under construction. you can see the two center spans were lifted into place from barges below. and that's how it will be taken apart. next month a large east span of the bridge will be disconnected, lowered by cable on to a barge and it will float away to a scrap yard. the west band will follow in march. >> i can say i feel sorry it's going down because that's progress. you know you have to look at it that way. >> reporter: with the completion of the suspension bridge in 2003, the center span became obsolete. it was too expensive to retrofit for earthquakes. >> it was state of the art for 1927 but we've just learned a lot since then. demolition will be complete in the fall of 2007.

80 years after its first toll. if you've ever driven east on highway 4 you had to cross the antioch bridge. a span that takes you high above the shipping channel leading to the delta to stockton. the bridge that's there now opened to traffic in 1978. but there was an antioch bridge there before that. ktvu claude man was there when it was demolished in 1979. >> reporter: the new bridge over the san joaquin river was completed last year. preparation for demolition of the old span began more than a month ago. last week the movable sections of the old tower was destroyed. that's 427-tons of steel. but it requires only 47 pounds of explosives carefully placed to do the job. after 78 years in the business, the process is strictly retune for the cleveland wrecking

company that has the contract. here's the count down. >> ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, fire. >> fire in the hole. if the next target for dell hreugs -- for demolition is the going to be the two concrete beams. no more underwater demolition after the first of march that's when the fish spawning season starts it'll have to be over by then. >> when we come back on a second look, when the new span of the bay bridge is done, what happens to the old one? ken wayne will answer that question. and a bit later talking to a legendary iron worker who helped build the bay, golden bay and cartenas bridges.

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drivers on the bay bridge have been watching their tax dollars at work for the last few years as caltrans building a new span. but what will happen to the old one? we went searching for that question, ken wayne has the story. >> reporter: this is how bridges are taken down in some parts of the country, but not in the bay area. >> it would be fun to watch but that's not going to happen. >> reporter: instead of a quick book and clean it expect a three yearlong project. the demolition will be similar to what happened to the old section of the cardena bridge. all of it aimed at having as little impact on the bay as possible. >> 75 years of lead paint on that steel. so we can't just blow it up and

have it fall into the bay. >> reporter: stirring up bay sediment also carries risk. >> we're looking at not just dead or mercury but ddt and petroleum and other toxins that come off of our city sewers or streets. >> reporter: the demolition will happen complete with shokovsky. a total demolition bill of 42 million. the project is sure to be a skeptical for passing motorists. >> keep your eyes on the road and don't mind that hanging beam that's 100 feet over to your right. the 84 section of the dumbarton

bridge was blown up. even with the softer approach, there is to be some environmental damage but it'll be a lot less. >> how well maintained are bay area bridges? a report out last year says not very well. they found bay area bridges to be some of the most deficient in the country. ktvu's healther holmes first brought us this report last -- heather holmes first brought us this report last december. >> reporter: o' doulle bridge was built in young but did not receive very good safety rating. >> nobody wants to hear what they're riding on isn't safe. >> reporter: a national transportation reform coalition says the bay area is at the

front of a disturbing national trend. cities with ages bridges that need infrastructure updates. the report shows the results of years of under investing in infrastructure. >> this is essentially people ignoring basic infrastructure fact which is things don't last forever. >> reporter: and nowhere is it more obvious than right leer -- right here in the bay area. san francisco was only second to pittsburgh with the worse bridges in the state. the san jose sunny vale, santa clara area ranked first in metro areas of its size with 189 deficient bridges or nearly 19%. >> just because it's there for us now doesn't mean it'll be there for us in the future. unless we focus and make improvements. >> when we come back on a second look we talk to a man who's

earlier we told you about the bridge named for al zampa who died in 2000. zampa was one of a handful of iron workers that survived a fall and joined the dozen hell club. >> workers remember they knew then they were building a great bridge. >> yeah, yeah. i thought it was one of the seventh wonders in the world to me. it was one of the eighth. that's what made me want to do it. want to be part of it. and besides it was getting good money then. eleven dollars for eight hours.

now they get $30 an hour and do nothing. we had to work. >> reporter: al zampa was known as the king of the high steel in his bridge building days. now 82 he recalls that the only doubts he ever had while working on the bay bridge was that it might fall down. >> i worked on a lot of bridges and a lot of others but nothing like this. this was new to me. >> what made it difference? >> the thrill and the guts to go up there and do it. and all the thrills every minute something drops and moves around and the whole thing is blowing. i used to look across and think, geez with all of the weight of the cable, 28 and 7/8 diameter, and all the weight we were putting on them, i thought, oh i hope those engineers are right. >> reporter: in the building of the bridge 24 mistakes were

made and they all proved fatal. al zampa saw three men died. he remembers the first death as vividly as it was yesterday. >> one guy just pulled a choker cable. and it had we called it something else. i got stuck and he choked on it and it came out, hit him in the mouth and knocked him over. i seen him go, i looked down and he hit the water. he hit flat. you know, and we all hollered it was a boat down below. we got in a row boat. three of us went and picked him up. he floated, like when you shoot a duck in the water he just floated. you would think he would go down, he didn't. he was there, we picked him up. his gloves were split in two. his clothes were split in two.

he still has the belt. we were so excited we thought he was still alive floating in the water. the other guys just went straight down. >> reporter: they dug and poured. grappled and propelled. all this $25 a week, good money during the depression. >> you had to have a couple of shots before you go up there. we had two days to think it over. they paid us in full every week they figured maybe we wouldn't go up there. >> in the full 48 months of construction, only eight men died. 15 others have joined the half way to hell club by falling into the net and living to tell about it. >> it happened so quick and unexpected it impressed me. when i fell i didn't know where

i was. i was too scared to even move. >> that's it for this week's second look. i'm julie haener, thank you for watching.