Spider’s Engineered Platforms Enables Work on Oakland Bay Bridge Tower

Spider, a division of SafeWorks LLC, provided powered access throughout the eight-year construction of the new self-anchor suspension span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge. American Bridge/Fluor Joint Venture, the general contractor for the massive bridge project, turned to Spider in 2008 for a variety of swing stages, work baskets and hoists. During the past six years, the contractor purchased and rented standard Spider equipment to enable workers to access the bridge’s cables, underside of its roadway deck, and its 525-foot tall tower.

Spider’s engineers also designed a custom platform to reach around the exterior of the tower shaft. The equipment’s light weight and easy connections enabled the contractor to change the platform’s length as needed to gain better access to the sloping tower face while maximizing the working space on the platforms to maintain productivity.

Spider fall-protection equipment including harnesses, safety lines, rope grabs and lanyards was implemented onsite. The San Francisco team provided Competent Person Training and onsite User Training to American Bridge/Fluor Joint Venture, contributing to six years without suspended access mishaps or incidents.

“The Bay Bridge project provided many opportunities to think outside the box to get the job done,” said Levi Gatsos, design engineer for AB/FJV. “Spider’s engineers and local support team rose to every challenge. All in all, their responsiveness to our needs and our experience with their equipment has been excellent.”

Spider equipment has also been used by painting and elevator contractors during the bridge construction.

Spider, division of Safeworks, is No. 81 on the RER 100.