Caltrans Routing Error Blamed in Fatal Crash

A fatal accident last week in the city was the third crash since June caused by Caltrans routing errors that sent oversized trucks under low overpasses, state transportation officials said Thursday.

“To have three in a little over a month--that’s disconcerting,” said Jim Drago, a Caltrans spokesman.

The first two crashes, which ended a three-year period free of such accidents in California, occurred last month at the same location, where Interstate 5 crosses California 44 in Redding. No one was hurt in either crash, though both caused extensive damage to cargo and roadway, officials said.

On June 8, a piece of construction equipment being hauled slammed into the Interstate 5 overpass, taking out a 4-foot chunk of concrete, said California Highway Patrol Officer Jim Ayers in Redding. Ten days later, logging equipment carried by a truck hit the same overpass. Cars trailing behind were peppered with concrete chunks, shattering windshields, Ayers said.

Both truck drivers had permits, approved by Caltrans, listing their routes and the load heights. Such permits are required for trucks over 14 feet high in California.

A Caltrans permit writer in the Sacramento office approved both permits and has since been reassigned, Drago said.

Caltrans is now reviewing procedures in its San Bernardino office to determine how a similar mistake led to a fatal accident Friday. A 7,000-pound empty fiberglass tank was knocked off a truck under an overpass near the Riverside and Orange freeways, killing a driver in a car behind the truck.

The overpass was 2 inches shorter than the load, although the truck’s route had been approved by Caltrans.