WARNING - Steel Found Unsafe For Car Engines

By MARCUS WOHLSEN
Associated Press Writer

OAKLAND, Calif. - Bay Area residents began potentially their worst commute in almost two decades Monday, a day after one of the region's most traveled sections of freeway melted and collapsed following a fiery crash.

An elevated section of highway that carries motorists from the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge to a number of freeways was destroyed early Sunday after heat from an overturned gasoline truck caused part of one overpass to crumple onto another.

"I've never seen anything like it," said officer Trent Cross of the California Highway Patrol. "I'm looking at this thinking, 'Wow, no one died' — that's amazing. It's just very fortunate."

Authorities predicted the crash would cause the worst disruption for commuters since a 1989 earthquake damaged the bridge itself. The sight of a soaring freeway twisted into a fractured mass of steel and concrete was reminiscent of the damage from the Loma Prieta quake. ....

Heat exceeded 2,750 degrees and caused the steel beams holding up the interchange above to buckle. Bolts holding the structure together also melted, leading to the collapse, California Department of Transportation director Will Kempton said.

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