SEMM Professor Hassan Astaneh, expert witness on bridge collapse, says the padlocks bearing lovers' initials, "love locks", probably won't collapse Oakland's Lake Merritt bridge—but other safety issues exist.
City workers over multiple days in September removed the locks from the new pedestrian and bicycle bridge, which connects the south end of Lakeshore Avenue and the lake's amphitheater.
See Is Lake Merritt for lovers? That's not a lock (East Bay Times, 10/13/15)