No reopening date in sight for cracked Salesforce Transit Center

Crews worked through the night at the Salesforce Transit Center to check and test steel beams after construction crews on Tuesday morning found a cracked steel beam while installing ceiling tiles on the third-floor bus deck.

On Wednesday, Mark Zabaneh, executive director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, revealed that a second beam was found with a crack on it that was adjacent to the first steel beam crews found earlier with a crack.

Crews are now preparing the affected area and have already removed ceiling tiles, light fixtures, utilities as well as moving Muni’s overhead contact system so that they can begin the installation of a shoring system that will help relieve some of the stress from the affected beams. The beams are on the east side of the transit center under Fremont Street.

The two cracked beams, which supports both the bus deck and the 5.4-acre rooftop park, remain localized to just the east side of the transit center, officials said.

Officials with the TJPA said they are gathering materials for the shoring project and crews can start installing the system as early as this weekend.

Zabaneh said in a statement on Thursday:

“We are working expeditiously to address these repairs so that we can reopen Fremont Street and the transit center, but our work will be thorough and rigorous. Safety remains our top priority.”

Fremont Street near the transit center remains closed off to traffic and pedestrians as a safety precaution.

Muni, AC Transit, WestCAT and Golden Transit commuters have all been sent back to the Temporary Transbay Terminal to catch buses.

The transit center has remained closed since late Tuesday afternoon. Officials are planning for another press conference with the media on Friday.

Jerold Chinn

Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.