OAKLAND -- A section of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge that collapsed in a tanker truck fire will reopen before Memorial Day weekend, more than a month ahead of the deadline set by transportation officials, according to the contractor doing the repairs.

"(We've) got to have it done before the holiday weekend or the public will be mad at me," said C.C. Myers, who heads the Rancho Cordova-based construction firm by the same name.

Myers said Wednesday night that the task of rebuilding the portion of the MacArthur Maze, which connects eastbound Interstate-80 to eastbound I-580, would likely be done May 24.

He initially estimated that workers would be finished by June 2. The California Department of Transportation had set a deadline of June 27.

The early reopening not only would be good news for commuters on one of the nation's busiest freeway interchanges, hobbled by the April 29 fire caused by an overturned gasoline tanker, but it also would mean a $5 million bonus for Myers' company.

Caltrans offered a bonus of $200,000 for each day the work is finished ahead of the deadline, with a maximum of $5 million. To collect the full amount under the contract, work would have to be completed by June 2.