No new cracks were found at the Salesforce Transit Center 'CBS San Francisco

SAN FRANCISCO (CBS SF) – Night-shift teams at the San Francisco mall, Salesforce, found no crack after two steel beams were discovered earlier this week, Transbay officials said Thursday. Joint Powers Authority.

Overnight crews evaluated and tested the steel beams for the development of the area, which could happen this weekend.

In preparation for the shoring, the teams removed ceiling panels, moved lighting fixtures and utilities and moved overhead systems to the San Francisco municipal company's electric buses, officials said. of TJPA.

The first crack was discovered Tuesday in a steel beam on the third-level deck above Fremont Street by workers installing ceiling panels. The discovery prompted TJPA officials to shut down the $ 2.2 billion facility and the portion of Fremont Street located directly under the bus bridge between Howard and Mission Streets.

While the engineers were inspecting the first crack, about 2 feet 6 inches long, they found a second, smaller one, on a parallel steel beam, which also crosses Fremont Street.

The beams support the roof and deck of the third level, as well as the fourth-floor park above.

On Wednesday, TJPA Executive Director Mark Zabaneh said the engineers were still trying to figure out what might have caused the crack. They want to know if the cracks are related to the manufacture of the beams, their installation or the design of the center.

The beams were installed during construction in 2016 and have not been inspected since, which, according to Zabaneh, is a standard protocol.

According to Dennis Turchon, Senior Construction Manager at TJPA, the steel beams used for the construction of the center were supplied by at least seven different manufacturers, all located in the United States.

Herrick Corp., based in Stockton, Calif., Supplied steel in cracked beams and about one third of all steel used in the project. The construction of the transit terminal was part of the US Department of Transportation's "Buy America" ​​program.

Contractors and engineers inspected other areas of the transit center where the beams are similarly configured and have not encountered other problems, Zabaneh said.

With the closure of the center, all transportation operators, including the San Francisco Municipal Railroad and the Alameda-Contra Costa Transit District, will serve the previously closed Transbay temporary terminal on Howard and Main Streets. Drivers and transit users should expect delays in the downtown core.

Salesforce's four-storey sales center opened in August, eight years after the start of construction. Extending over four blocks, the center has a 5.4-acre public park on the roof and a space for retail stores, art exhibits and the restaurants.

TJPA officials said the cracks are not related to the problems of the Millennium Tower, a 58-story luxury tower at 301 Mission St., which sank 16 inches.

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