Only about a month and a half following the Salesforce Transit Center’s big opening party, the Transbay Joint Powers Authority decided to close the center following the discovery of “fissures” in one, then two, of the structure’s steel beams.
The San Francisco Examiner reported on Wednesday: “TJPA Executive Director Mark Zabaneh said the initial crack is about 2-feet, 6-inches long, while the second crack is smaller than the first. Both run along the bottom of the beams, which were made by the Stockton-based Herrick Corp.” According to the Examiner, the center and the block of Fremont Street passed over by the center will be closed through next week. “TJPA officials said there could be any number of reasons for the cracks in the steel: a fabrication problem, an installation error, too much weight on the beam or a hitch in the initial design of the building,” reported the San Francisco Chronicle on Thursday.
“The two beams identified with fissures remain localized to the area above Fremont Street at the Salesforce Transit Center,” notes the authority in a press release [PDF] on Thursday. The press release also noted that work on a shoring system “could begin as early as this weekend.”
New Haven, Conn.–based Pelli Clarke Pelli Architects designed the 1.5 million-square-foot center, which in addition to servicing regional and local bus service also features retail and a rooftop park. ARCHITECT reached out to the firm for comment, and was directed to the authority.
“Salesforce Transit Center is temporarily closed and will be reopened as soon as possible,” says a note on the center’s homepage. “We apologize for the inconvenience. Bus service is at the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard St. and Main St.”
