Work to reinstall a new set of even-more-weatherproof LEDs for the 'Bay Lights' art piece on the Bay Bridge — the third time that the work has been installed since its initial debut in March 2013 — is now underway.

Artist Leo Villareal, known until that point for his light-based sculptures at Burning Man, created 'The Bay Lights' with backing from a group that formed around the effort, now known as Illuminate.

The group has now had three different fundraising drives for the project: the first to fund the initial installation, which was intended only to stay up for two years; the second to fund a more robust reinstallation in 2015, following a scheduled repainting of the bridge itself, which was intended to last ten years; and the third, in 2023, when the piece had to go dark again, two years shy of that ten years, due to weather-related wear on its LEDs and a need for a wholesale replacement.

An $11 million fundraising drive was successful — we had heard, back in March, that they were getting close — and on Monday, Illuminate announced that work and testing had begun on this new set of 50,000 custom-engineered LEDs — enough to recreate the Bay Lights on both sides of the bridge, so the dancing light show will now be visible from more vantage points to the south.

The new LEDs. Photo by Ken Chan via Illuminate

Illuminate's founder Ben Davis has long been a cheerleader for the piece, selling it as an essential modern symbol of the city.

"It will represent San Francisco," Davis told KTVU earlier this year. "It will be shown during every sporting event, every moment. It sort of takes our bridge, the Bay Bridge, and creates the nighttime equivalent of the Golden Gate Bridge, which is the world’s bridge."

Not everyone is the biggest fan of Villareal's piece, with some like Chronicle urban design critic John King believing it should have remained a temporary trifle — he's referred to it as "the visual equivalent of background music."

But clearly 'The Bay Lights' has had its fans, and no one can deny that it gave a massive (and literal) glow-up to the stalwart, gray western span of the Bay Bridge, which tended to show better in daylight and has always lived in the Golden Gate's shadow.

See the three lit-up strands? Photo by Ken Chan via Illuminate

A photo shows several shorter strands near the center of the western span of the bridge lit up on a recent evening, and Illuminate says that "You can expect to see testing of the new strands starting early in the new year."

The full reinstallation is expected to be complete later this winter, the group says.

Hopefully they will be able to have a re-lighting ceremony in 2025 that's not as rainy as the original lighting ceremony was back in 2013.

Previously: 'Bay Lights' on Bay Bridge Could (Once Again) Go Dark By March If Project's Founder Can't Raise $11 Million