KEY POINTS:
EMERYVILLE - A stretch of vital highway for San Francisco Bay-area commuters collapsed today after a gas tanker truck crashed and ignited flames that shot more than 60 metres high, officials said.
Flames on a lower ramp melted the upper deck of a highway on the Oakland/Emeryville side leading to the double-decker Bay Bridge that connects the heavily populated East Bay to San Francisco. As the steel structure weakened, a concrete slab fell onto the ramp below.
The driver of the truck, which an official said may have been speeding, was hospitalised with burns and was reported to be in stable condition. Officials said the scant traffic in the middle of the night prevented further injuries and accidents.
They are working on commuter contingency plans for the next few months, telling drivers to avoid the web of highways known as the "Oakland Maze."
"Undoubtedly, today's incident will cause severe difficulties for Bay Area commuters," Calif. Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger said in a statement. "The state will take every action possible to minimise the impact on commuters and repair the overpass as quickly as possible."
Schwarzenegger issued an emergency declaration streamlining public contracting and environmental codes so the difficult reconstruction process could start immediately. Public transportation will also be free on Monday.
The two ramps are used by nearly 500,000 vehicles every day, the California Highway Patrol said. Many workers use the highway to get to work in San Francisco from their homes in the East Bay, although a subway system is also available.
The Bay Bridge, about 0.8 km from the closed interchange, remained open and was accessible from another highway. A section of the bridge collapsed in the 1989 earthquake, but was reopened 30 days later.
The California Highway Patrol said there was no evidence the driver had been using drugs or alcohol.
Will Kempton, director of the California Department of Transportation, said the vehicle was "allegedly travelling at a high rate of speed or over the speed limit at least and went out of control."
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom said the accident was a wake-up call about vulnerability from natural or man-made disaster. "These unfortunate events are opportunities to remind people that our infrastructure is not where it needs to be," he said.
- REUTERS
