The Skyway with a total costof $1.2 billion, is a pre-cast concrete elevated roadway with a cantilever steel bike path 10,176 feet in length that is supported by piers up to 396 feet tall (above and below waterline).  The skyway will eventually connect the new Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) Bridge with the Oakland touchdown.  The basic design of the Skyway consists of precast segmental concrete box girders (approximately 80 feet wide with varying depths) with balanced cantilever construction and an orthotropic steel box girder (to tie into the SAS), a total of 4 rigid frames including a total of 14 spans.  The substructure consist of 15 steel frames encased in the reinforced concrete shell footings which are supported by 6 cast-in-steel shell concrete piles (approximately 300 feet long and 8 feet in diameter). 

The Skyway incorporates a large amount of construction materials, including approximately 110,000 cubic yards of precast concrete elements, 30,000 tons of reinforcing steel, a 3000 ton orthotropic box girder to tie into the SAS Bridge, 3600 tons of steel to fabricate the 18 ft wide cantilever bike bath, and 27,000 tons of steel for the bridge footings.  The Skyway project began in 2002 and has an expected completion of late 2007.  The entire SFOBB replacement has a scheduled completion date in 2013.

Summit Associates provides construction claims support and construction scheduling services to Caltrans for all projects on the San Francisco – Oakland Bay Bridge (SFOBB), including most recently, the Skyway Project. 

Summit Associates representatives performed constructability reviews, claims management and dispute resolution, cost schedule management, technical support, and attended weekly coordination meetings with Caltrans and contractors.  Additional duties included preparing daily reports, contract change orders, deficiency notices, progress reports, plan checks and contractor’s monthly payment applications.  Notable achievements of Summit Associates representatives during field operations include providing welding Quality Assurance during the entire fabrication process of the 40 hinge pipe beams.  The hinge pipe beams consist of a steel pipe with bands of 70 ksi, 50 ksi and 70 ksi steel.  The hinge pipe beams are found at locations between precast concrete segments and serve as a “fuse” during a seismic event by allowing the 50 ksi section to fail at high levels of stress.