PLACER COUNTY, Calif. — New inspections are taking place on Placer County's Foresthill Bridge. It's undergoing ultrasonic testing as part of nationwide efforts to look at bridges of similar construction.
“It's a beautiful bridge,” said Matt Randall, deputy director of public works for Placer County. “The bridge is safe. This is all preventative in nature, kind of like going in for a checkup [with] the doctor.
” Randall took questions Wednesday about the work, calling the inspections a “preventative maintenance project” sparked by a nationwide effort to check bridges that use a particular kind of steel. The Foresthill Bridge is the tallest in California at 730 feet high; It spans half a mile over the north fork of the American River. Placer County is working in conjunction with the Federal Highway Administration and Caltrans as it completes the testing.
There are 282 weld points that need to be inspected, Randall said. Engineers are using under-bridge inspection trucks – sometimes known as a “snooper truck” – to bring inspectors within arm’s length of the weld points. “The reason why we're doing the testing is because there are things that you can't see with the naked eye,” Randall said.
“We want to get in there with a higher level of technology and make sure everything is safe.” There will be traffic shifts while testing is underway. The bridge, however, will remain open to drivers and to pedestrians.
The inspections are estimated to take between six and nine months. Randall said this type of testing is new for the bridge, but that the bridge is regularly inspected at least every two years. See more coverage of top California stories here | Download our app | Subscribe to our morning newsletter.
