Building Trades News

By Gary Phillips
Contributing Writer

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From the Benecia-Matinez Bridge in the Bay Area to the Riverside Drive Bridge across the Los Angeles River (which is scheduled to be replaced) and more, the inspectors were sent out. This initial batch checked were steel deck truss structures similar to the one that collapsed in Minnesota, including the much-traveled Gerald Desmond Bridge spanning Terminal Island to the Port of Long Beach. The Desmond was closed for a day last July for repairs, and has been targeted as a bridge to be replaced given the increasing volume of port truck traffic.

Beyond the steel truss bridges, in total there are nearly 1,700 bridges and freeway overpasses in this state suffering some form of deterioration, with at least 18 in Los Angeles County, according to the Federal Highway Safety Administration, that are "basically intolerable requiring a high priority of corrective action." Additionally, a 2006 Caltrans report noted there are 100 bridges and overpasses in L.A. County that are suspect when it comes to a major earthquake, even though the state has nearly finished a seismic retrofit to the tune of $2.5 billion spent over the past 17 years. Meanwhile cities and counties, responsible for their own bridges and overpasses, are behind in repairs and retrofittings.

Still William Higley, L.A. County’s deputy director of Public Works confirmed, "Every bridge in Los Angeles County is safe. If one wasn’t safe, we’d close it to public access."

While there is little chance of a similar catastrophic failure on California bridges, the Minneapolis bridge collapse is seen as symbol for the nation neglected, and deteriorating infrastructure, and the need to invest greater funding in infrastructure repair.

"We have all over the country crumbling infrastructure," said Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid. In addition to being the "right thing to do," Reid also said that repairing infrastructure was "good for America." "For every billion dollars we spend in our crumbling infrastructure, 47,000 high-paying jobs are created," added Reid.

"We’ve been pressuring our representatives to address the infrastructure issue like this for years. Our freeway system is a minimum of 50 years old. We can’t wait until our infrastructure system begins to fail before we take action," said Doug Williams, Business Manager of Ironworkers Local 433.

"We can’t simply put band-aids on these things, and wait until something catastrophic happens like in Minneapolis. That bridge was listed as deficient since 1992 and was badly in need of renovation or replacement," added Terry Martin, Political Director of UA 250.

"Every Building and Construction Trade Union across the country is on record warning of the need to bring our infrastructure up to acceptable standards. The collapse of the bridge in Minnesota has brought this need to light in a very tragic way," said Bob Balgenorth, President of the State Building and Construction Trades Council. "The Bush administration has neglected the proper funding to repair and replace the infrastructure. Instead Bush rewards his fat-cat friends, which comes at the expense of the life and safety of the American public."

At a recent press conference, Bush rejected an increase in the federal gas tax to fund the nation’s ailing infrastructure, while noting that he is considering lowering corporate tax rates.

There are 24,000 bridges in California. Roughly half are state owned and the other half are divided between city and municipalities. Half of all of those structures were built before 1967, with several hundred made entirely of steel where matters such as metal fatigue play a factor. In the aftermath of the Loma Prieta and Northridge earthquakes, the aforementioned billions were allocated for repairing and reinforcing some 2,000 freeway brides up and down the state. But untold billions more will have to be generated and spent to upgrade or replace existing bridges and overpasses.

Bridges that still need attention include the Hyperion Bridge in Silver Lake, the La Cienega Boulevard Bridge over Ballonna Creek leading to Los Angeles International Airport, and the historic 6th Street Bridge, seen in various movie and TV shows, leading from downtown into Boyle Heights. Public Works estimates it would take $150 million just to retrofit the 6th Street bridge alone.

As the population and traffic steadily increases in our state, clearly the means of moving people from one place to the other is key, and their safety on those roadways and bridges is of paramount concern. From retrofitting to rebuilding, to using emerging technologies such as real-time sensors designed to track changes in vibration characteristics in bridges, these safety measures will be incorporated by our members as together we build for the future.