Caltrans Failed to Close Bridge Despite Warning

About 3 1/2 hours before a temporary bridge collapsed last week in Lompoc, Caltrans engineers noticed a potential problem with the structure and notified agency officials in Sacramento, who did not shut down the bridge and decided not to conduct further inspections until the next day, a Caltrans spokeswoman said Friday.

By that time, the 190-foot span on California 246 had dropped into the creek bed beneath it, just seconds after a legally permitted truck weighing more than twice the bridge’s capacity drove across. A car behind the truck fell about 30 feet as the span collapsed, but the driver was not injured.

About 11 a.m. Oct. 21, a Caltrans employee noticed some bent steel in the structure during an inspection, said Caltrans spokeswoman Lauren Wonder.

After consulting with the contractor overseeing construction and the bridge’s manufacturer, officials determined that the problem did not warrant immediate closure of the bridge, which handled 20,000 cars a day, a Caltrans source said. As a precaution, however, a state expert planned to come out the next day.

State Sen. Joe Dunn (D-Santa Ana) said Friday that after a potential problem was identified, Caltrans should have shut down the bridge. The bridge collapsed at 2:15 p.m.

“I don’t feel like I can assure my constituents or anyone else that these roads are safe,” said Dunn, a frequent critic of Caltrans. “We have to deal with this problem immediately before anyone else is hurt or killed.”

Caltrans permit writers routed at least six overweight trucks over the bridge, unaware that the road had weight restrictions or that a temporary structure was even in place, sources have said.

On Friday, a second accident occurred at the Caltrans construction site when a 35-ton crane working to replace the collapsed bridge fell through a temporary road and toppled, injuring the operator. Cal/OSHA closed down the site and is investigating.

Criticism of Caltrans began earlier this year when a truck hit an overpass, losing its cargo and killing a Westminster man on the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim. The 15-foot-high truck had been issued a permit to pass under a 14-foot, 10-inch overpass.