Interstate 10 Bridge Collapse In California Forces Closure
LOS ANGELES, July 20 (UPI) — The Tex Wash eastbound bridge in Southern California’s Interstate 10 collapsed late Sunday due to heavy rain and flooding, injuring one person and causing the highway to close indefinitely.
A truck was heading east on the highway when the bridged collapsed. A passenger was able to escape, but the driver, who suffered moderate injuries, needed to rescue.
Interstate 10 is the main road between Southern California and Phoenix, Ariz., with more than 20,000 cars traveling through the closed portion daily.
The Tex Wash bridge was built in 1967. It was listed by the National Bridge Inventory as functionally obsolete in 2014, meaning it was no longer adequate for its task, but it was not listed as having structural problems.
“Interstate 10 is closed completely and indefinitely,” Terri Kasinga, spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation, said. “They won’t even be able to begin assessing the damage until Monday.”
The collapsed Tex Wash bridge struck the adjacent westbound bridge, also closed indefinitely. Motorists traveling between California and Arizona will need to detour hundreds of miles out of their way by using Interstate 8 to the south or Interstate 40 to the north.
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