One lane of traffic in each direction will use what normally is the westbound span of the bridge over a small desert gully.
Advertisement
Caltrans initially didn’t expect it would be able to reopen I-10 at the site of the collapse for weeks.
The bridges crossed desert gullies that became swollen with rain Sunday when an unusually strong summer storm dumped up to 7 inches in the area near Desert Center, about 50 miles west of California’s border with Arizona.
On Tuesday, the California Department of Transportation announced the westbound bridge would have one of its lanes open to eastbound traffic.
With that declaration, the U.S. Department of Transportation offered California $2 million in emergency funds.
Work will now focus on repairing the eastbound bridge, but Caltrans has not said how long that will take.
Last year, transportation officials gave the 48-year-old bridge an A rating, one of the highest possible flood-safety ratings, and it was supposed to withstand all but the most catastrophic of rain storms. State officials have closed the route, a primary artery between California and Arizona, to allow time to conduct a damage assessment.
Several alternative routes through the desert area were also closed due to flash flooding, she said, forcing motorists to take lengthy detours that could add hours to their trips.
When inspectors visited the bridge in March, they found no structural issues, according to Caltrans. The inspection report recorded no erosion concerns.
Nine inspectors fanned out Monday to check all 44 bridges along a 20-mile stretch of I-10 after a second bridge showed signs of damage following the storm Sunday, according to Caltrans.
The FHWA’s Emergency Relief program provides funding for highways and bridges damaged by natural disasters or catastrophic events. The protective sheathing of boulders seemed to be working.
Armin W. Stuedlein, an engineering professor at Oregon State University who studies how structures such as bridges interact with soil, said there may be “room for improvement” in bridge design and protection standards.
Advertisement
Stuedlein noted that this stretch of I-10 has several dozen similar bridges.
