HUNTINGTON BEACH : 7 Bridges to Receive Quake Retrofitting

Seven bridges along city streets have been targeted for seismic improvements as part of the state’s ongoing effort to shore up bridges considered prone to collapse in a major earthquake. The repairs, which the City Council approved this week, are to be made as part of Caltrans’ $100-million seismic retrofitting project. The program was initiated in the wake of the October, 1989, Loma Prieta earthquake.

Huntington Beach and Anaheim are the only Orange County cities that will receive state funding under the project, City Engineer Robert Eichblatt said. “We were fortunate to get into this first round” of the two-year Caltrans effort, he added.

Although further study of the bridges will be done, the retrofitting of Huntington Beach spans is projected to cost $1.54 million, according to a city staff report. Under the program, state and federal funding will pay for 70% of that cost.

Local agencies are responsible for the remaining 30%. The city will split that cost with the county, with each contributing about $230,000 to the project, the report said.

Four of the bridges cross over Huntington Harbour inlets, along Admiralty, Davenport, Gilbert and Humboldt drives. The other three run along Edwards, Graham and Springdale streets, where those streets cross the Garden Grove/Wintersburg Channel.

The short spans have been singled out because of their design styles and underpinnings, which are similar to the Bay Area bridges that failed during the Loma Prieta quake, Eichblatt said.

“It’s not that these bridges are damaged, it’s just that they were designed a certain way structurally,” Eichblatt said. “Looking at the different structural designs, (state inspectors) have asked which ones might shift off their footings” during a major earthquake, he said.

He said he did not know why the targeted bridges are clustered in two general areas of the city. Both areas were developed during the early 1960s, he said.

Eichblatt added that, based on the relatively low cost projection, he believes that the city’s bridges will need only minor reinforcement. Or, depending on the results of additional study, some still might not require any work, he said.

“It could just be a real quick fix,” he said.