California State Engineers Investigate Collapsed Bridge

The chairman of the Riverside County Board of Supervisors said today that the board intends to declare a local state of emergency as a result of the collapse of a section of Interstate 10 near Desert Center.

A portion of Interstate 10 between Arizona and California is closed due to flooding and a bridge collapse, according to the California Department of Transportation.

A bridge on eastbound I-10 across a normally dry desert wash about 50 miles (80 kilometres) west of the Arizona state line washed away, the California Highway Patrol said, blocking all traffic headed toward Arizona. One person needed to be rescued and was taken to the hospital with moderate injuries.

The westbound section of the freeway near the tiny town of Desert Center was also closed. The roadway was intact but extremely undermined by flooding and could need just-as-extensive rebuilding, Kasinga said.

Kasinga says engineers won’t even be able to properly assess the damage to the two sides until Monday morning, and offered no timeframe for their opening again. Motorists were advised to avoid I-10 travel and use detour routes such as Arizona Route 95 to Interstate 40 or Interstate 8 to State Route 111 to Route 86 to get around the closure, she said.

There was some good news that came with the rain: It helped crews get wildfires under control.

Hundreds of other cars were stranded immediately after the collapse, but the California Highway Patrol worked to divert them. “Oh my God, we are so stuck out here”, said 53-year-old Pamala Browne. According to one commuter traveling the westbound lanes, there was no end to the cars that were stuck out there.

The region received scattered showers on Saturday – in some areas, downpours – as a tropical storm off Baja California pushed clouds and warm and muggy conditions northward. Floods also forced the Los Angeles Angels’ into their first rainout in 20 years.