mook:
Thanks for the correction!
I only remembered reading about the third rail,
and not the overhead wires. In any case, there
is no way George could have seen insulators left
over from the SPIER's and SN's overhead wires anywhere
except over Lanes 4 and 5 -- the southernmost 2 lanes.

And I think that those insulators have been gone a
long time, as we have for some time had "travelers" --
platforms the width of the bridge that travel under each
deck so painters, maintenance workers, contractors, and
bridge inspectors and others can access the underside of
each deck -- and I think those insulators would have been
in the way of work being done and thus would have been
removed a long time ago (I don't know when).

I remember that photo of that car going airborne over the
"hump". The Chronicle photographer who caught that car
in midair waited patiently until someone went just fast
enough to become airborne -- and got The Photo. (I myself
do not remember ever being driven over the "hump".) It was
there because the upper deck was in the process of being
lowered so that big trucks would have clearance to be in the
curb lanes.

The East Span has a minimum of 30 feet of clearance on
the upper deck -- VERY impressive!

What I always noticed on the lower deck of the East
Span were the black marks made on the edge of the
narrow metal walkway to the right of Lane 5 (the
slow lane) at the big curve to the right -- from
cars hitting that walkway because drivers may have
misjudged their speed at that turn.

That bridge makes a Big Boy look like a Z Scale model!

Margaret