[Neanderthal]

"I think that if the terrorists were picking a high-value target on the West Coast, there is really only one choice.

The Golden Gate Bridge.

The Bay Bridge carries five times as much traffic - the busiest bridge in the country. It's also more vulnerable from an engineering standpoint - bomb on lower deck (outbound from SF) would reflect blast energy up and down while explosion on surface of GG would expend most energy into the sky.

[Dog Gone]

The Bay Bridge carries five times as much traffic - the busiest bridge in the country. It's also more vulnerable from an engineering standpoint - bomb on lower deck (outbound from SF) would reflect blast energy up and down while explosion on surface of GG would expend most energy into the sky.

True, but if you're looking for symbolism, and a landmark that is known around the world, it's hard to beat the Golden Gate Bridge.

I'm no engineer, but I would agree that it would be a more difficult target to collapse, however.

[GoreIsLove]

The Bay Bridge is the busiest bridge in the world. If it were to collapse, it would be very bad. More than half the people who work in downtown SF commute in from the East Bay. Four freeways merge into one to cross the bridge. It is the major entrance into the city from all points east.

[freeasinbeer]

Well, tecnically in is the SECOND busiest in the worlld, but I agree with your point 100%. The Bay Bridge is the workhorse of the area, and it would seriously hurt the economy.

I happened to be watching the Learning Channel last night, and coincidentally, they were doing a special on bridges. The George Washington bridge in New York has two decks of 6 lanes, and carries an average of 300,000 cars per day. The Bay Bridge has two decks of five lanes, and carries an average of 290,000 per day.