The discovery of a cracked steel beam that forced the abrupt closure Tuesday of the brand-new Transbay Transit Center is the latest headache for the $2.2 billion transportation hub, which has been plagued by glitches and cost overruns since its inception. The cracked beam was spotted Tuesday morning by workers installing ceiling panels on the center’s third-floor bus platform, and concern over its potential failure prompted city officials to close the terminal and some streets at 4:30 p.m. They shunted rush-hour commuters to the nearby Temporary Transbay Terminal, which had been used during the center’s construction. The center sits next to the troubled Millennium Tower, which has sunk 18 inches since it opened in 2009. The damaged beam at the transit center was discovered on the same day that engineers inspected a cracked window on the tower, in an attempt to determine if it’s related to building’s sinking and tilting. The operator of the transit center was quick to give assurances that the two problems were unrelated. Now Playing: In the works for a decade, the new transit center combines muscular architecture with a lush varied park. Video: Carlos Avila Gonzalez “We don’t see a nexus,” Transbay Joint Powers Authority Executive Director Mark Zabaneh said at an afternoon news conference announcing the closure. The transit center is also adjacent to the recently opened Salesforce Tower, the city’s tallest high-rise. Salesforce, the cloud computing company and San Francisco’s largest employer, purchased the naming rights to both the transit center and its rooftop park. The call to close the transit center and Salesforce Park came on the same day that company founder Marc Benioff was celebrating his birthday and welcoming 170,000 conventioneers to his company’s annual weeklong Dreamforce conference. While the closure might not have shown those visitors the city in its best light, safety remained the top priority at the center, which opened just 45 days ago after 20 years of planning and almost a decade of construction. “The beam is cracked, so the behavior of the beam is unpredictable,” Zabaneh said. “We will be working tonight and tomorrow morning to get a better understanding of the cause of the crack.” The crack is in a 6½-foot-deep American-made steel beam on the third floor near Fremont Street. It’s one of dozens of beams that support the park above the bus deck and is topped by 5 or 6 feet of soil. Late Tuesday evening, the transit authority said it would inspect all steel beams in the center. The steel was fabricated by Herrick Corp. of Stockton under a $189 million contract with Skanska USA of New York, Transbay Joint Powers Authority documents show. In a statement released earlier in the day, Zabaneh said the crack appears to be a “localized issue and we have no information that suggests it is widespread.” But he added, “It is our duty to confirm this before we allow public access to the facility.” The transit center was designed by Pelli Clarke Pelli — the same firm that designed the adjoining Salesforce Tower — and was built by the joint venture of construction companies Webcor and Obayashi. “We are just beginning work and do not have any information about the cause or causes of the issue at this time,” Webcor said in a statement. All buses to and from the center were rerouted to the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Main streets, which was used for the past eight years while the new center was under construction. Fremont Street, one of the main morning commute arteries off of the Bay Bridge, was also ordered closed to vehicles and pedestrians between Howard and Mission streets, and was to remain closed until at least noon Wednesday. Officials encouraged motorists not to drive downtown. “Our advice for drivers, if it is at all possible, is to avoid that part of the downtown,” San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Paul Rose said. The cracked beam is the latest in a series of problems at the center. It was conceived 17 years ago as the “Grand Central Station of the West,” for buses, trains and high-speed rail — but rail service remains a distant hope, tied up in funding shortages, the uncertainty of California’s high-speed rail project and the logistical challenges of extending Caltrain tracks north from Mission Bay. Finances have long proved challenging. The center wound up costing $800 million more than expected and required a $260 million bailout from San Francisco to complete its construction. No sooner did the center open — an opening that was delayed by nine months — than the walkway that circles the nearly three-block-long rooftop park began crumbling. The shutdown is certain to put pressure on other transit options, but BART officials say they already are operating at full capacity, thanks largely to those 170,000 visitors attending Dreamforce at Moscone Center, where Howard Street is closed between Third and Fourth streets as part of the convention. “We are maxed out,” said BART spokeswoman Alicia Trost, noting that the district had 613 cars in service Tuesday, compared with the usual 595. The cracked beam is also reminiscent of the cracked bolts that plagued the eastern span of the Bay Bridge. “Big projects are increasingly complex,” said Randy Rentschler, spokesman for the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which helped provide funding for both the bridge and the transit center. “No doubt a full investigation will be completed, and the engineers will get to the bottom of it.” San Francisco Mayor London Breed declined comment Tuesday, deferring instead to officials at the Transbay Joint Powers Authority. Supervisor Jane Kim, who sits on the authority and also represents the district at City Hall, said shutting down the building was “absolutely the right thing to do.” “We cannot put any of our residents or workers at risk,” she said. Supervisor Aaron Peskin, who has been critical of the project’s high costs, said he hoped the problem was a “one-off.” “They still owe us a quarter of a billion dollars,” Peskin said. “Happy Transit Week.” Chronicle staff writer Kurtis Alexander contributed to this story. San Francisco Chronicle columnists Phillip Matier and Andrew Ross appear Sundays, Mondays and Wednesdays. Matier can be seen on the KPIX TV morning and evening news. He can also be heard on KCBS radio Monday through Friday at 7:50 a.m. and 5:50 p.m. Got a tip? Call 415-777-8815, or email matierandross@sfchronicle.com. Twitter: @matierandross<doc-sep>Morning commuters were confused early Wednesday as they ducked under caution tape, navigated street detours and scoured parking garages that were already full before the sun rose in San Francisco. The traffic gridlock was caused by the unprecedented shutdown of the city’s brand new $2.2 billion Transbay Transit Center after a cracked steel beam supporting the rooftop garden was discovered Tuesday morning. The timing couldn’t be worse, as tens of thousands of additional people make their way into the city for the annual Dreamforce tech conference put on by Salesforce. In total, the conference is expected to draw 170,000 attendees and thousands more workers. And that doesn’t include the number of people commuting throughout the city to their day jobs. Now Playing: A cracked steel beam supporting the rooftop garden at the Transbay Transit Center closed the new structure and created traffic gridlock in San Francisco. Video: The Chronicle It didn’t take long for streets to be packed with frustrated drivers honking their horns as they inched slowly through the detours. It took commuters up to three cycles of traffic signals to get from the foot of the Fremont Street off-ramp onto Howard Street. Now Playing: With Fremont Street closed beneath the Transbay Transit Center, traffic was tangled Wednesday morning. Video: SFChronicle From there, yellow vested officers attempted to direct drivers weaving through the maze of signs, cones and barricades. But for some drivers, the standstill traffic was too much to bear as they attempted illegal turns in a futile attempt to escape the gridlock. Earlier in the morning, a steady stream of construction workers, delivery trucks and street washers filled the streets just before 6 a.m. in San Francisco’s South of Market neighborhood. A short line of drivers were lined up to get into the 109 First St. parking garage. One construction worker said he usually parks closer to his job site, but all the garages were full, which was unusual for this time of day. “This one doesn’t open until 6 (a.m.), so I was lucky,” he said. “But I’m late for work.” Police were guarding barricades near Howard and Fremont streets that were set up to prevent people from driving under the terminal. By about 7 a.m., police were diverting the traffic that usually heads toward the Financial District in either direction on Fremont Street. Many pedestrians and construction workers appeared confused by the police barricades and were frustrated about being rerouted. “I guess they don’t pay attention to the news,” a San Francisco police officer said. Sean Moore, a supervisor for Benson Industries, works at 181 Fremont Residences, which is next to the transit center. He was waiting to see if he could park his pickup truck on the corner, which on a normal day is banned until 10 a.m., he said. But all the lots in the area were either full or inaccessible due to the detours. The traffic both on the roads and on sidewalks was heavier than usual, Moore said. “Oh yeah, everything’s being diverted and it’s backing up,” he said. “This is a major traffic artery, but they’re pushing people to either side.” Residents of the luxury condo 181 Fremont walked their dogs with coffees in hand and were allowed to duck under police tape to enter or leave the high-rise. Authorities issued severe traffic alerts Tuesday night warning of delays coming off the Bay Bridge as buses enter the city from Interstate 80 are redirected to the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Main streets. Drivers who exit the bridge at Fremont Street should also expect significant delays, officials said. More Information More online: For full coverage of the Transbay Transit Center shutdown go to sfchronicle.com. See More Collapse The left lane of I-80 remains closed and motorists should seek out alternative routes. The casual carpool drop-off in the South of Market neighborhood was also affected by the Fremont Street closure. Louise E., who was driving to the city from Alameda, climbed out of a car at the casual carpool at Howard and Fremont streets — as she does every morning — only to find a police officer and yellow police line tape blocking her walk to work in the Financial District. The officer greeted her and set her off on a brief detour. “It’s inconvenient,” she said, “but you can find your way around. You have to get used to walking if you work in the city.” BART planned to run longer trains to accommodate crowds during the morning commute. Below are other updates on buses coming into the Temporary Transbay Terminal, per the MTC: AC Transit — All 27 Transbay bus routes have been moved to the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Beale streets. Capitol Corridor/AMTRAK — Connecting bus service continues operating out of the Temporary Transbay Terminal, in its current bus stop located at 200 Folsom Street in San Francisco. Golden Gate Transit — Transbay Bus Routes 101, 70, and 30 have been moved to the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Beale streets. SF Muni — Bus routes 5, 5R, 7, 25, 38 and 38R have been moved to the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Beale streets. WestCAT — The LYNX Transbay Bus Route has been moved to the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Beale streets. Michael Cabanatuan, Sarah Ravani and Josh Koehn are San Francisco Chronicle staff writers. Email: mcabanatuan@sfchronicle.com, sravani@sfchronicle.com, josh.koehn@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @ctuan, @SarRavani, @Josh_Koehn<doc-sep>Send to Email Address Your Name Your Email Address Post was not sent - check your email addresses! Email check failed, please try again Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.<doc-sep>
Click here if you’re having trouble viewing this video or photo gallery on a mobile device. SAN FRANCISCO — The brand-new Salesforce Transit Center — this city’s highly-touted transit hub — will remain closed at least through the end of next week after the discovery of a second crack in a steel supporting beam overnight, authorities said Wednesday. Safety concerns at the center also forced the closure of Fremont Street, throwing the Wednesday morning commute into chaos, a situation that likely will remain until the transit center reopens. The latest development shook the confidence of a city that has recently endured a string of structural questions with the new Bay Bridge and a sinking high-rise. Workers on Tuesday initially found one crack in a structural beam that runs over Fremont Street in the month-old $2.2 billion home to four public bus systems, and authorities closed the center immediately. An inspection of the area around that crack later revealed another crack in another adjacent beam, said Mark Zabaneh, the executive director of the Transbay Joint Powers Authority, at a news conference. The main beam runs the length of the east building, one of three connected but distinctly constructed buildings that comprise the transit center, Zabaneh said. It has a four-inch-thick plate and is 60 feet long and 2½ feet wide. The cracks are both in a flange. Fremont Street also is expected to remain closed into next week, he said. “At this point, it’s hard to discern what caused (the crack),” Zabaneh said. “It could be a fabrication issue. It could be installation. It could be design. We are looking into all three of them.” Zabaneh said it contracted with Herrick Steel to provide the steel for the building. A person who answered the phone at the company on Wednesday afternoon said officials there would not comment. According to Zabaneh, the building’s most recent inspection was completed in June 2016, and there’s no way of knowing when the cracks appeared in the 27 months since then. “I don’t have enough information at this time to offer an opinion,” said Jeff Gee, the vice chairman of the Joint Powers Authority. “Staff is very focused on this effort, as they should be.” Fremont Street’s closure created gridlock in the downtown area that spilled onto local freeways Wednesday morning. Traffic backed up on the westbound direction of the Bay Bridge, past the MacArthur Maze and to the Caldecott Tunnel. Related Articles Heading into San Francisco? Don’t say we didn’t warn you! Traffic map: San Francisco transit center closure, Dreamforce snarl commute New San Francisco transit center closes after crack found in beam Commuters also were backed up several miles on Interstate 880 heading into the city, according to the California Highway Patrol. Police closed down the Fremont Street exits and entrances to the Bay Bridge, creating further havoc. San Francisco resident Kelly Joslin has felt the effects of the closure firsthand. The afternoon commute home from her teaching job in Castro Valley was half an hour longer Tuesday and 15 to 20 minutes longer Wednesday. “It’s been pretty frustrating,” said Joslin, 37. “Any additional time on top of my already lengthy commute is tough. The increase in congestion definitely increases my stress level when I’m driving and the need to determine alternate routes is also a challenge.” While officials admonished commuters not to drive into the city, Caltrain weekday ridership held steady at 65,000 on Wednesday. The story was similar for BART, which had recorded some 248,056 exits as of 4 p.m., just 10,123 more than the previous Wednesday. CHP Officer John Fransen warned those who choose to drive to expect slower commutes. “We just ask that people please be patient and drive as safe as possible,” he said. The closure comes as more than 150,000 people are in the Bay Area for the annual Dreamforce tech conference, an event put on by Salesforce. The event started Tuesday and runs through Friday. The also-new Salesforce Tower opened adjacent to the transit center at the beginning of the year; Salesforce paid about $110 million for 25-year naming rights to the transit center. Bus service is operating out of the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Main streets while the new building is closed. Staff writer Erin Baldassari contributed to this report. WATCH: Drone footage of the new San Francisco transit center.