SAN FRANCISCO (AP) - The western span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge is getting spruced up with 25,000 white LED lights, transforming the gray, workhorse of a bridge into a light sculpture.

The Contra Costa Times reports that the $8 million, privately funded project will be done by March. It would be the largest such light sculpture in the world; four times bigger than the installation on Paris' Eiffel Tower.

New York light sculptor Leo Villareal says the idea is to help people see the bridge in a new way. It will also add some pizazz to the old span when the new eastern portion of the bridge opens later in 2013.

To prevent distracted driving, the lights won't be viewable by drivers, but from the shoreline.

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