SF Bay Bridge to reopen no sooner than Monday

Repair work on the San Francisco-Oakland Bridge will continue non-stop through the weekend and the overpass might reopen on Monday.

On Tuesday night, due to high winds, a recently repaired section of the bridge broke loose, sending a 5,000-pound (2,270-kg) piece of metal flying into commuter traffic according to the New York Times.

Surprisingly no one was hurt, but the bridge, connecting San Francisco's peninsula to suburbs in the east bay, remained closed indefinitely.

"We are doing everything possible to ensure the public's safety," Bart Ney, a spokesman for the California Department of Transportation said.

Repair work has not stopped since it began on Tuesday night. Some sections of the bridge had been repaired not long ago and already require additional repairs due to heavy traffic use.

The repair work has forced hundreds of people to use public transportation.

Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) said on Thursday that the system carried 442,000 commuters, breaking a record set the day before.

"Commuters are going to need to check back with us over the weekend," said Ney. "We're going to do everything we can to get the bridge open for the Monday morning commute, but safety is the priority for us right now."