The closure could possibly come before the Christmas holiday.

“We're going to try to do it as soon as we can, said Caltrans spokesman Bart Ney. “[We will] base the decision on what the methodology and what the type [of repair it] is going to be.”

Caltrans officials said the agency is studying a range of fixes from a complete replacement of the cracked 80-foot-long steel eyebar to other less extensive repairs.

“Maybe adding a member on the outside; trying to repair that individual eyebar. Those are possibilities that are being looked at,” explained Ney.

A source familiar with the project told KTVU that designers have settled on adding a second eyebar over the cracked one and inserting a longer pin to hold the two together.

When KTVU asked, Caltrans would not confirm that scenario.

“The designers are just sitting down with the possibilities now,” replied Ney.

Caltrans said the bridge will have to be closed between one and four days to make the repair. Officials said the current temporary fix requires daily maintenance that will continue to cause lane closures with nearly the same regularity.

Officials want something that will last the four years or more needed to complete a new eastern span.

Motorists KTVU talked with Tuesday night didn't seem to mind the inconvenience of another bridge closure.

“I would rather them close it and fix it than have people driving on it and something else go wrong, said Vallejo resident Theo Freeman.

“If it's broke, fix it,” agreed Bill Lowe of El Cerrito. “If it breaks, it's going to be shut down longer [than four days].”

Caltrans also addressed criticisms made by UC Berkeley structural engineering Professor Abdolhassan Astaneh. Professor Astaneh has said the bridge is unsafe and doesn't meet federal highway standards.

“One of the reasons we invited the federal highway administration to be a part of the entire repair is to ensure that we didn't go against any federal mandates,” said Ney.

Professor Astaneh showed KTVU computer animation he says demonstrates how the cracked eyebar would fail in a 7.3 magnitude earthquake.

Caltrans said that size quake would affect more than the eyebar.

“If we have a large scale earthquake in this area, we're going to have several other problems that aren't at the eyebar location with the east span,” explained Ney. “That's the whole reason we're building a new structure.”

Caltrans said it should know next month what type of eyebar fix it will use.

Once they know that, officials will have an idea of exactly when they'll have to shut down the Bay Bridge and how long the closure will last.