Flood washes out otherwise sound Calif. bridge

A worker walks near a washed-out bridge near the town of Desert Center, along Interstate 10 in Southern California, on Monday. All traffic along one of the major highways connecting California and Arizona was blocked indefinitely when the bridge over a desert wash collapsed during a major storm, and the roadway in the opposite direction sustained severe damage.
A worker walks near a washed-out bridge near the town of Desert Center, along Interstate 10 in Southern California, on Monday. All traffic along one of the major highways connecting California and Arizona was blocked indefinitely when the bridge over a desert wash collapsed during a major storm, and the roadway in the opposite direction sustained severe damage.

DESERT CENTER, Calif. (AP) - The interstate bridge that washed out in the desert between Los Angeles and Phoenix easily withstood its daily load of thousands of cars and trucks, but the pounding of an unusually powerful flash flood scoured away the land where the bridge was anchored, officials said Monday.

Water rushing through a normally dry desert gully eroded the land around the Interstate 10 bridge, causing one side of the eastbound span to collapse and forcing the indefinite closure of the westbound span.

Only one motorist was injured, but the rupture severed a highway vital to the movement of people and commerce between two of the nation's largest cities. On an average day, the interstate carries about 27,000 vehicles in either direction.

Inspectors fanned out Monday to check all bridges along a 30-mile stretch of the freeway after a second bridge showed signs of damage following the storm Sunday, said Terri Kasinga, spokeswoman for the California Department of Transportation.

No timeframe was given for when either side would reopen as crews were diverted from other projects to examine the site. One driver had to be rescued Sunday from a pickup that crashed in the collapse and was taken to a hospital with moderate injuries, the Riverside County Fire Department said.

When inspectors visited the bridge in March, they found no structural issues, according to Will Shuck, another Caltrans spokesman. The eastbound side was deemed "functionally obsolete," but Shuck said that reflected the fact it was built in 1967, when construction methods were different.

Many motorists speeding through the desert might cross the bridge without knowing. It spanned a shallow desert gully, perhaps just 60 feet wide. Such washes, as they are known, streak the desert floor and flash to life as rains are funneled into them much like tributaries can swell a river.

The bridge, about 50 miles west of the Arizona state line, was washed out as remnants of a tropical storm off Baja California dumped rain at a rate of 1.5 inches an hour. A total of 6.7 inches fell Sunday in Desert Center, said National Weather Service forecaster Ken Waters.

Showers and thunderstorms in drought-stricken southern and central California set rainfall records in what is usually a dry month.