william stephen allen was retained as an architectural consultant, although the bridge was designed by the bay toll crossings division (under chief engineer norman c. raab) of the california department of public works. chuck seim, one of the design engineers working for bay toll crossings, would later credit allan temko's criticism of raab's economical truss design for the richmond–san rafael crossing for generating sufficient public pressure to drive the single-deck design. temko's article quoted t.y. lin as being against a repeat of the richmond–san rafael design, but lin ultimately gave temko the credit for the design. raab retired and his successor, e.r. "mike" foley, was willing to incorporate aesthetic considerations, resulting in the final design. the western highrise span features an all-steel superstructure, with an orthotropic deck over two parallel box girders, following the construction of several smaller test bridges using the same orthotropic deck technology. it was the first large-scale use of an orthotropic deck, which reduces weight, and thus seismic loading, although the bridge is expected to receive moderate to major damage following an earthquake.