Caltrans Orders San Diego Bridge Welding Redone

Caltrans has ordered some work redone in the $44.3-million earthquake retrofitting of a bridge over a freeway in San Diego after finding a high number of defective welds, officials said Wednesday.

Tests are showing that 70% of the welds on the reinforcement of the massive concrete columns supporting the bridge are defective, said Caltrans spokesman Kyle Nelson. The project is meant to allow the Interstate 805 bridge over Interstate 8 in San Diego’s Mission Valley to withstand a 7.0 earthquake on the nearby Rose Canyon fault.

About half of the welds had been completed when the defects were found, Caltrans said. The project was scheduled to be completed in September.

The issue has also been referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Nelson said. “The question being raised is whether this is poor workmanship or is it something more nefarious,” he said. “We don’t know.”

Stephen Rados, senior vice president of Steve P. Rados Inc. of Santa Ana, the general contractor on the job, said he believes that Caltrans should bear the cost of redoing the work because its inspectors allowed concrete pouring to continue for weeks and only later decided that they had misgivings about the welds. The welds were done by a Hemet-based subcontractor who has since quit the job.