Work Halts on Nordhoff Street Bridge

Work on a bridge designed to ease traffic snarls on Nordhoff Street in Northridge came to a halt after concrete used for its road deck failed routine tests, a city inspector said Wednesday.

Construction on the $4-million project stopped about a month ago after samples of the concrete used in the bridge’s roadway failed strength tests, said Charley Mims, chief construction inspector.

“Some of the cylinders didn’t come up to full strength,” said Joe Lucas, a city engineer. Samples were then taken from the bridge roadway itself, and those also failed the tests, Mims said.

City officials have been discussing what corrective measures should be taken by the contractor on the project, Security Paving Inc. of Sun Valley, Mims said.

The problem, which does not involve the supporting columns, is “more than minor” but not so serious that the structural integrity of the bridge is threatened, he said. It has not been decided what corrective measures will be taken, he said, but workers are expected to be back on the job next week.

The project includes construction of a nearly half-mile, 23-foot-high bridge spanning the Southern Pacific railroad lines and Limekiln Creek.

Once finished, the S-shaped bridge would close a gap in Nordhoff Street between Tampa and Corbin avenues. The bridge is expected to carry about 35,000 cars a day when it is completed.

If there are no other delays, motorists will be able to use the bridge by summer, when the project is to be completed.

Mims said the contractor promised that the city will not have to pay for corrective work. The city originally estimated the project would cost about $6.2 million, but the bid from Security Paving Inc. came in $2.2 million lower than expected.

The city has wanted to link Nordhoff Street into a single thoroughfare since 1972, but the project was not funded until 1986, when U.K. Northridge, owner of the Northridge Fashion Center, agreed to pay $1.5 million of the cost.