Troops guard San Francisco's bridges

3 Nov, 2001 12:56 AM3 mins to read

SAN FRANCISCO - National guard troops in full battle fatigues stood watch over San Francisco's famed Golden Gate and Bay Bridges today after officials warned that major suspension spans in the western United States could be targeted for attack.

Commuter traffic rolled steadily across key bridges leading into San Francisco -- and in the case of the Golden Gate Bridge, it was even slightly heavier than normal.

"Things are fine and traffic is actually up. We were up by about 200 cars over the last four Fridays," Golden Gate Bridge spokeswoman Mary Currie said.

"The bridge is as safe as it ever was, absolutely."

At the Oakland-San Francisco Bay Bridge, the world's busiest toll bridge with some 280,000 vehicles per day, officials said traffic was slightly lighter than usual but appeared to be moving normally.

"It's pretty normal," said bridge spokesman Frank Reece.

National Guard troops dressed in fatigues and armed with M-16 rifles arrived at the bridges before dawn, stationing military "Humvees" at bridge entrance points and working with the California Highway Patrol on increased security measures.

"The bridges are safe. The guard is there," Steve Maviglio, spokesman for Governor Gray Davis said.

Security was also tightened at the Coronado Bridge in San Diego and the Vincent Thomas Bridge at the Port of Los Angeles, where there was a heavy police presence on the span itself as well as increased security patrols in the air and on water.

The unprecedented security measures followed official warnings that bridges in the western United States might be targets for attack between Nov. 2 and Nov. 7.

At the Golden Gate Bridge, California Highway Patrol officers and National Guard troops checked and rechecked parking lots, access ramps, and major support columns for any signs of suspicious activity.

Word of the new threat -- one of the first to directly target major West Coast landmarks following the Sept. 11 assaults on New York and Washington -- came on Friday as Davis reported he had received credible information that the bridges could be attacked.

Federal and state law enforcement officials quickly downplayed the extent of the threat, saying Davis had relayed uncorroborated information that the FBI had not been able to verify. An unidentified senior official in the Bush administration told the Los Angeles Times that the White House was unhappy with Davis's decision to go public with the warning and that the governor did not consult beforehand.

But Maviglio repeated that Davis had made his decision to go public only after receiving reports of the threat from three law enforcement agencies. Maviglio added that Davis spoke with FBI director Robert Mueller and Homeland Defence Secretary Tom ridge and neither man "second guessed" him.

The warning sent alarm bells ringing up and down the West Coast and at least one major San Francisco employer -- engineering giant Bechtel Corp, which built the Bay Bridge -- has given employees the option of working from home to avoid travel over bridges in the coming week.

"Safety is always the first concern and there are certain things about this threat that haven't been determined yet," Bechtel spokesman Jeff Berger said.

Faced with spiking public alarm and official confusion over the extent of the potential threat, Davis and his team sought to defend his decision to pass along the unverified warning to the public.

- REUTERS

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