Capital Strategies

Project Background

Centennial Bridge is an overpass in UC Berkeley's Hill Campus, where Centennial Drive crosses over Lawrence Road. Centennial Drive connects the main Berkeley Campus to several facilities in the Hill Campus including the Lawrence Hall of Science. The existing bridge was constructed in 1965 and is along a hillside historically known to have landslides. Despite numerous repairs to this section of roadway over several decades, it had shown significant ongoing deterioration. During a strong seismic event, the overpass could have been at risk of structural failure.

Replacing this section of Centennial Drive was a high priority for UC Berkeley and the Lawrence Berkeley National Lab (LBNL) to prevent an unplanned total closure of Centennial Drive following a strong seismic event. The State of California has approved funding for the university to design and construct a new replacement bridge in parallel to the existing one. Once the replacement was constructed, Centennial Drive would be connected to the new bridge and the existing bridge demolished. Construction took approximately two years to complete.

Starting in November 2022, the new section of roadway was constructed in parallel to the existing Centennial Drive in the UC Berkeley Hill Campus, between the UC Botanical Garden and the Lawrence Hall of Science. Centennial Drive remained open to traffic in both directions throughout construction.

Flaggers temporarily paused traffic in each direction for a few minutes during weekday construction hours (7 a.m. - 7 p.m.), to accommodate construction activity and to maintain safe driving and cycling conditions past the work area.

When construction of the new section of roadway was complete in late-2024, there were a couple of weekend closures of Centennial Drive to connect the new roadway with the existing roadway.