🏗 Bay Bridge MEGA-EDITION

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Hello Fellow Engineers!

This week, we’re diving deep into one of San Francisco’s best-kept secrets: the Oakland Bay Bridge. It might not have its own emoji like its flashy sibling 🌉, but it’s four times longer and twice as busy. Who knew a bridge could be so underrated, right? Also, if you’re into chaos (the fun kind), don’t miss my latest Cities: Skylines 2 video, where I recreate a chunk of San Francisco. Spoiler alert: things get wild.

Read on for bridge banter, indie game adventures, and some Paddy shenanigans! You won’t want to miss it!

Let’s dive into it 👇

👷‍♂️ Truss Me, I’m an Engineer…

The Oakland Bay Bridge – The Cool Bridge’s Cooler Cousin

Ah, San Francisco – a city known for fog, hills, and one iconic bridge... but wait, which bridge are we talking about?

Everyone loves to swoon over the Golden Gate Bridge with its pretty red paint and perfect photo-op moments, but in my book, the real hero is the Oakland Bay Bridge.

First off, size matters (especially in engineering), and the Oakland Bay Bridge is four times longer than the Golden Gate. That’s right – the Golden Gate might be the poster child, but the Oakland Bay Bridge is the real workhorse, spanning a massive 8.4 miles!

It’s not just a bridge, it's practically a road trip. While the Golden Gate sits there, basking in tourist admiration, the Bay Bridge gets down to business, carrying over 260,000 vehicles a day. More than twice as busy. Twice. Let that sink in.

The Golden Gate Bridge is an architect’s dream - always thinking about how a bridge looks rather than, you know, the real world. I mean, come on - Golden Gate Bridge? It's basically a giant Instagram model in bridge form. All flashy looks and no real substance. It even has its’ own Emoji - 🌉!

Meanwhile, civil engineers built the Bay Bridge to be long, strong, and incredibly practical. Form and function? That’s our jam.

So next time you find yourself stuck in Bay Area traffic, sitting on the Bay Bridge, give it a little appreciation. It’s long, strong, and putting up with a lot more nonsense than its famous, overhyped sibling ever will.

Also, if you want to see me recreate a chunk of San Francisco (Bay Bridge included) to test out Cities: Skylines 2, check out yesterday’s video on my channel! Watching me attempt to handle urban chaos is always fun, right?

⚡ Cool Links

😍 City Builder + Pixel Art + Isometric + Modern Features
Get ready to time-travel and build like it's 1998! YesBoxStudios has been cooking up a city builder with retro vibes but modern brains. Customize buildings, tackle real-time traffic, and satisfy the most demanding businesses—all while pretending you're still rocking dial-up. Pre-alpha demo's out on Steam, and 2025 is the year for the full release.

🤔 In Switzerland, a mobile overpass bridge is used to carry out road work without stopping traffic
Switzerland’s got a fancy mobile overpass bridge for road work that totally didn’t cause a massive traffic jam... except it did. Turns out, it’s a prototype, and while it’s supposed to be a game-changer, it might need a few more tweaks before it stops turning highways into parking lots. On the bright side, it only takes two nights to set up!

⛏ I mined the ENTIRE Earth until there was nothing left...
Ever wonder what happens if you mine the entire Earth? Spoiler: there's nothing left! Check out this 2-hour MEGA EDIT of To The Core, where it's all about drilling, destroying, and upgrading—until there's literally no planet left to dig!

🚨 FREE STUFF ALERT! 🚨

In case you missed it in my recent videos, I’ve teamed up with Gamer Supps again, and guess what? The free international delivery deal is back! So, if you didn’t grab those free energy drink samples last time, now’s your chance to snag them for completely FREE until this Friday!

Already tried them and found your favorite flavor?

Use my code BOOSH to get free delivery AND a free shaker with any GG Tub purchase between 3 - 8pm EST on Friday. Don’t sleep on this—deal ends Friday!

Also, if we get enough sales, we could be looking at a Real Civil Engineer Waifu cup. And who knows, maybe even our very own flavor! Let’s make it happen, people!

🐕‍🦺 Paddy’s Corner

The inside of a football is very scary...

Paddy "reverse engineers" a football, aka rips it open, to see what's inside—because science, obviously.

Also, can you believe this little guy is almost 4 years old?

Check out the poor football in the video 👇

👾 Indie Game of the Week:

This week, I took on the galaxy in Star Trucker, a unique indie game where trucking meets space exploration! In this interstellar twist on the truck sim genre, I hauled cargo, traded salvage, and navigated through the vastness of space—all while trying not to get sucked into the vacuum. With an open-world feel and a mix of strategy and survival, it’s a game that puts your trucking skills to the ultimate test.

What makes Star Trucker even cooler? It was developed by just two people! The level of detail and immersion they’ve packed into this game is mind-blowing.

You can support these indie developers by checking out the game here, and don’t forget to watch my latest video, I became the Universe’s BEST TRUCKER, where I put my space-trucking skills to the test!

It’s time for a Bridge Review!

If the Golden Gate is the popular kid, the Oakland Bay Bridge is the dependable friend who actually does the group project. Stretching across the bay with its double-deck design, this beast doesn’t just take you over water—it gets you across in style with separate levels for westbound and eastbound traffic. Because, let’s face it, who wants a traffic jam in both directions? Talk about engineering with brains.

And don't even get me started on the recent $6.5bn seismic retrofit. This bridge is practically indestructible now, designed to withstand the kind of earthquake that would have architects running for cover. While others worry about aesthetics, the Oakland Bay Bridge is ready to save your life and your commute.

Final Score: 9.3/10 – A workhorse with brains and brawn. What more could you want?

🏗 r/realcivilengineer Spotlight

Thanks to u/XiaoGu on Reddit for sharing this STRONG building in Canada.

Surely this can’t be an accident… can it?