Caltrans Offers $2,000 Reward for Return of Lost Instrument
Caltrans announced a $2,000 reward Friday for the return of an instrument containing radioactive material that may have fallen from one of its trucks recently somewhere in the Santa Clarita or northern San Fernando valleys.
The instrument, a portable compaction control gauge, was lost Oct. 5, according to the agency. A small amount of radioactive material in the instrument is used to measure the density and moisture of compacted material, such as freeway embankments.
The agency said the material is sealed and does not present an immediate danger to anyone finding the instrument. The Caltrans announcement did not describe the exact nature of the material.
On the day the truck lost the instrument, it traveled a southbound route that included Soledad Canyon Road and the Antelope, Golden State and San Diego freeways. It left the San Diego Freeway at Rinaldi Street on its way to a field office in the 1100 block of Sepulveda Boulevard.
The gauge--9 inches wide, 16 inches long and 5 inches high--was in a yellow case with a blue keyboard, according to Caltrans.
The gauge--bearing the serial number 1448--has no street value because it has no other use than the one it as designed for, the agency said.
The announcement asked that anyone locating such a device call Caltrans’ Materials Laboratory at (213) 620-5692.
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