Unfinished Tollway Bridge Tumbles When Vehicle Hits It

MISSION VIEJO — A 150-foot section of a bridge under construction as part of the Foothill toll road collapsed Monday when a vehicle lost its brakes and crashed into a metal support, tollway officials said.

The driver of the vehicle, a loader similar to a forklift, injured his ankle when he jumped off before the impact, according to Michael Stockstill, a tollway spokesman. The driver, who was not identified, was treated and released at a nearby clinic. There were no other injuries.

Stockstill said that officials of the contractor, C.C. Myers Construction, estimated that the accident will cause a delay of about 10 days in the 4.2-mile extension of the Foothill toll road, which is scheduled to open in February, 1995.

“Only a small portion of the work was affected,” Stockstill said.

The Oso bridge is one of three portions of the Foothill Corridor extension project, which has been underway for a little more than a year. The collapsed section of metal piping and ironwork was on the northbound portion of a divided, 1,500-foot bridge near the Upper Oso Reservoir, Stockstill said. After the piping is installed, wooden forms called “falsework” are added, into which concrete is poured.

Work on the southbound section of the bridge has been completed.