A Bridge Too Low, Far Too Often
Thousands of bridges throughout the state are too low to handle oversized trucks, and Caltrans has no plans to raise them, despite an unprecedented boom in truck traffic and the revelation last week that the agency's misrouting of trucks resulted in at least 24 accidents during the last 3 1/2 years alone.
In Orange County, about one in every five bridges is lower than the 16 1/2-foot height that became standard in the state in 1968. On the Riverside Freeway, where a Westminster man was crushed to death last month by a 7,000-pound fuel tank knocked off a big rig by an overpass, 13 bridges don't meet current standards.
About 45% of Los Angeles County's 1,060 overpasses are lower than current standards, with oversized loads routed around several freeways that have bridges too low to bypass. For example, the Santa Monica Freeway has dozens of overpasses under 16 1/2 feet. The vast majority of state bridges were built more than 25 years ago, long before the sight of a semi carrying a manufactured home became common. Now California, with a state economy larger than most countries' and with the most truck traffic in the nation, has many roads that are ill-equipped to handle the changing reality of truck traffic.
An examination of Caltrans bridge logs shows that the thousands of low-lying bridges have created an obstacle course for oversized trucks, with many instances of accidents or close calls throughout the state.
With no plan in the works to retrofit the bridges, Caltrans officials say they will continue to rely on their truck permitting offices to direct the estimated 200,000 oversized rigs expected to travel California's roads this year. About half of those permits will be issued to trucks taller than the 14-foot-high legal limit for travel without them, about 12,000 going to trucks needing even more clearance than modern bridges allow.
The permitting operation has come under intense scrutiny since 36-year-old Tam Trong Tran was killed when a 15-foot big rig drove under a bridge two inches lower on the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim and lost its load. The incompatible route had been approved by a Caltrans worker, who had failed to notice the height discrepancy when approving the permit.
Since the fatal accident, a union grievance was filed by a permit writer who cited "unsafe conditions for the public" as a result of chronic understaffing and overwork in the San Bernardino office. In addition, a hearing was held in Sacramento last week to probe events leading to the fatal mistake.
