San Francisco -- The Bay Bridge is once again open to traffic -- after six long days of emergency structural repairs and hellish commutes-- but it could be shut down again in a few months for a more permanent fix. Richard Land, chief engineer of the California Department of Transportation, or Caltrans, said that while the repairs completed Monday morning made the bridge safe for drivers, engineers were seeking 'a better solution ... something more robust, better-performing.' Until Monday, Caltrans officials had steadfastly defended the design of their fix, which involved taking the pressure off a cracked eyebar that was found during Labor Day weekend. The repair involved installing saddles above and below the cracked piece with four high-strength steel rods connecting them, then stressed to pull the weight away from the eyebar. Caltrans engineers suspect that metal rubbing against metal, caused by high winds, caused two rods and a saddle to come crashing down to the roadway last week. Their design to fix last Tuesday's incident was similar to what they fashioned over Labor Day, but they added elements to prevent the metal-on-metal contact. 'This is a temporary fix,' Land said, 'but a long-term solution might be needed. Right now the plan is not to keep the current strategy in place for the long term.' Caltrans engineers will analyze suggested repairs over the next couple of months in search of a strategy that will be as strong as the current fix but require less monitoring and maintenance than the repair just installed. Instead of designing the long-term repair under time pressure, with the bridge closed and commuters fuming, Caltrans would plan the work and schedule a closure, perhaps in four to five months, he said. The length of the closure would depend on the repair chosen. The options include replacing the eyebar, a huge undertaking that could involve replacing several eyebars, which join together like a chain. For the time being, Caltrans officials said they added a number of 'enhancements' to prevent metal-on-metal contact, to prevent wind and bridge vibrations from causing the rods to move, and to prevent the pieces of the repair from falling to the bridge deck if they should fail again. They spent much of the time adjusting the alignment and configuration of the metal pieces to assure they were not rubbing. Monitoring devices that record the stresses and any movement have also been added, and Caltrans crews will check on the repairs daily for at least two weeks. 