Caltrans Needs to Focus on Safety

Caltrans has had a difficult year, marred by wrongly issued permits to trucks, faulty welds in the Orange Crush interchange and a newly built bridge near Lompoc that collapsed but fortunately did not kill anyone.

In some cases the agency further compounded damage by not releasing information quickly or by being recalcitrant. The problem of the welds is a good example.

State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) pressed Caltrans to allow outside experts to examine the faulty welds in new bridges built three years ago at the Orange Crush interchange, the meeting of the Orange, Garden Grove and Santa Ana freeways. Caltrans refused, contending the material might become evidence in a potential lawsuit over construction of the bridges.

Only after Caltrans’ parent agency, the state Business, Transportation and Housing Agency, intervened did Caltrans reverse course and agree that the welds could be inspected. Because the examination was done at a Caltrans laboratory, the evidence was protected. It’s a solution that should have been recognized sooner.

Initial tests showed that some welds failed at pressures less than what they were designed to withstand. That has major implications for public safety, given that the interchange is used by nearly 200,000 travelers a day. Next month Caltrans is scheduled to begin replacing some welds with mechanical couplers.

The weld problem came to light after Caltrans reported that in the last few years it issued permits that sent at least two dozen oversized trucks under bridges where there was not enough clearance. The worst example occurred in Anaheim this year, when cargo from a truck struck an overpass and was knocked onto a following car, killing the auto’s driver.

Two months ago, a temporary bridge near Lompoc caved in just seconds after a nearly 90-ton truck crossed. The next vehicle plunged to the creek bed, 30 feet below. No one was injured. Caltrans has tentatively concluded that the manufacturer of the bridge was responsible.

But these errors demonstrate the need for legislative oversight and a determination of whether Caltrans needs more personnel or more money. It certainly needs a top-to-bottom campaign emphasizing the need for more focus and attention to public safety.