Caltrans Details Bridge Inspections, Repairs Made After Napa Quake

By Bay City News Service:

Caltrans officials this week said work is underway to repair bridges and structures in Napa and Solano counties that were damaged by the August earthquake.

There are six emergency contracts totaling $5.3 million for the repair work on 11 state-owned bridges.

Caltrans said its contractors will fix bridge seals, damaged concrete and pavement, curb cracking and bridge rails on locations along state Highways 29, 37 and 121 in the two counties.

The bridges did not suffer damage affecting public safety and structural integrity. Caltrans said it previously repaired buckling pavement on Highway 121 within three days of the 6.0-magnitude earthquake on Aug. 24.

“In Napa, we were able to respond quickly thanks to seismic data which allows us to prioritize our safety inspections of highways and bridges affected by the earthquake,” Caltrans director Malcolm Dougherty said.

Caltrans officials said eight building inspectors went to Vallejo, where only 1,000 of the 40,000 buildings there had been inspected for damage. The inspectors completed more thorough follow-up inspections of yellow-tagged buildings and canvassed areas for safety assessments where inspections had not been made.

Caltrans said it also used a “ShakeCast” rapid earthquake response tool that uses ground sensors to identify bridges that may have been shaken.

The data is provided to the U.S. Geological Survey. Caltrans found no damage during inspections of all seven Bay Area toll bridges within 48 hours of the earthquake. Another 29 state highway bridges in Napa, Solano and Contra Costa counties were inspected and minor damage was found on eight bridges.

All are structurally sound, safe and fully open, according to Caltrans. In Napa, Caltrans assisted local inspectors at three city-owned bridges on Third Street and Soscal Avenue.

During inspections of 104 locally owned bridges in Napa County, nine were found to be damaged.

The damage was minor and consisted of concrete cracking and some settlement, Caltrans officials said. The cost or repairing the locally owned bridges is estimated at $2.7 million.

Napa County officials closed and will likely replace the Garnett Creek Bridge north of Calistoga, according to Caltrans.

(IMAGE via Shutterstock)