Traylor Bros., Inc. and Dutra Construction Co., Inc. have formed a joint venture, Traylor-Dutra Joint Venture, to construct the temporary foundations on both Yerba Buena Island and the marine foundations for the temporary towers that will support the new falsework for the new SAS structure.

Located east of Yerba Buena Island (YBI), the Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) span will be the signature span of the new Bay Bridge.  Traditional main cable suspension bridges have twin cables with smaller suspender cables connected to them, which hold up the roadbed and are anchored to separate structures in the ground.  There is only one main cable on the new Self-Anchored Suspension (SAS) span, which will be anchored to the deck itself and will wrap around the west end of the structure and connect back into the deck.

The new SAS span is meant to echo the existing towers of the West Span, as well as the towers on the Golden Gate Bridge.  All vertical elements of the span, including the tower, piers and lights, have been designed to emphasize the clean modern lines of the structure.  To add to its distinctiveness, the asymmetrical suspension span will have a longer forward span (east of the tower), which will provide a more gradual transition from the gently sloping Skyway, and will give the new East Span a unique silhouette.  The single steel tower is the same height as the highest tower on the bridge's West Span.

Rising 525 feet about mean sea level and embedded in rock, the single-tower span is designed to withstand ground motions caused by a massive earthquake.  The four separate legs will be connected by linker beams, which function in the same way as a fuse in an electrical circuit.  The linker beams will absorb most of the impact from an earthquake, preventing damage to the tower legs.  In addition, if one of the legs is damaged, the other legs will keep the bridge standing.