SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA / A news summary : The Regional Review / DEVELOPMENTS IN ORANGE, RIVERSIDE, SAN BERNARDINO AND VENTURA : Caltrans Won’t Get U.S. Funds for Orange Crush
Federal highway authorities said Tuesday they are troubled by faulty welds in the Orange Crush interchange and will not reimburse Caltrans for any part of the $4 million it will take to repair them.
Caltrans had hoped for some federal money to help pay for the repairs, which should begin in December or January and last about a year. Federal officials said they received a verbal request for money from Caltrans, but they quickly said no.
“Caltrans was responsible for administering the contract and providing the proper oversight,” said Glenn Clinton, a Federal Highway Administration team leader in Sacramento. “Our view is this work is not up to expectations, and it was approved by Caltrans at the time--but now they’re saying they have concerns about it.”
The federal government three years ago paid more than three-quarters of the $84.7-million cost to revamp the interchange of the Santa Ana, Orange and Garden Grove freeways. In tests earlier this year, one in eight welds broke at pressures lower than they were designed to withstand.
To be on the safe side, Caltrans is replacing about 700 welds in the interchange, which was built to survive a 6.5-magnitude earthquake. Caltrans says that even though some of the welds are bad, the bridges would not pancake in a quake of that severity.
Caltrans plans to pay for the repairs by dipping into its highway maintenance fund.
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