California IN BRIEF : SAN FRANCISCO : Golden Gate May Get Wind Stress Test

The Golden Gate Bridge may soon undergo modern wind stress tests, partially to determine how the 52-year-old span would withstand blustery weather if a second deck is added for a rail transit system. A recommendation by chief bridge engineer Dan Mohn to study how much wind it would take to damage the suspension bridge, which in 1982 withstood 70-m.p.h. winds, was endorsed unanimously Friday by a committee of bridge directors. Under the proposal, wind tests costing $39,863 would be conducted in conjunction with a $423,640 three-dimensional computer study of how a possible rail transit system on a lower deck would affect the bridge. The latter study is due to be released March 25 by T.Y. Lin International of San Francisco.