The old Bay Bridge, from San Francisco to Oakland, is being torn down, which raises a tricky question: What do you do with 50,000 tons of pre-used steel?
The short answer is: Send it to Asia as scrap, FastCoExist says. But the fun answer is: Turn it into an awesome house. That’s what one Bay Area tech guy wants to do. We’re sure there won’t be any questions raised here about affordable housing and the tech industry!
FastCo:
The floors will have the original pavement and lane markers, and the frame of the building will be made from the giant steel beams of the bridge. In all, it’s the same amount of steel that would be used to build 1,600 cars.
The building was designed to be as green as possible. In addition to reusing materials, it will have solar panels, rainwater recycling, a green roof, and enough other features to earn LEED green building certification. It will also be financially self-sufficient, with Airbnb fees helping to keep it running through a nonprofit.
It just needs a place to go. A big chunk of property in San Francisco — that shouldn’t be a problem, right?