Shoring work to start this weekend on Salesforce Transit Center

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Work will start this weekend to shore up a part of the Salesforce Transit Center that crosses over San Francisco's Fremont Street, officials with the Transbay Joint Powers Authority said today.  

Two cracked steel beams were discovered in the transit center earlier this week, prompting the closure of a part of Fremont Street and the whole center for safety concerns.

The transit center opened just one month ago and serves in part as a regional bus depot. Buses are now operating from the Temporary Transbay Terminal at Howard and Main streets in San Francisco where they operated from before the transit center opened. 

Officials with the joint powers authority said a shoring design was completed today and is being reviewed by an independent organization. Materials will arrive Saturday and work will begin Sunday. 

A peer review will be done of the permanent repair plan and on the entire building following a request for both by the authority's board chair Mohammed Nuru, who is also the director of public works for San Francisco.

Authority officials said a peer review was done as part of the original design process. 

The officials have not said what exactly caused the cracks, but speculated they may be related to the beams' fabrication, installation or the center's design. 

A web portal was launched today where the public and news reporters can access the peer reviews, design reports, contracts and inspections. 

Some documents have been posted and more will be added on an ongoing basis. Documents can be found at https://transbaycenter.box.com/s/sfivpl21ii3h27ahbhmhd04uonq5nv5d.

Officials with the authority continue to work with contractor Webcor/Obayashi and structural engineers Thornton Tomasetti to address the problems and install a shoring system while a permanent solution is created. 

Fremont Street and the transit center will be closed at least through next week.