Broken bridge blocks ships from Port of West Sacramento
Rio Vista Bridge stuck in down position, impacting cargo ships
Rio Vista Bridge stuck in down position, impacting cargo ships
Rio Vista Bridge stuck in down position, impacting cargo ships
Vehicle traffic is moving Tuesday across the Rio Vista Bridge, but the center section is unable to rise up for marine traffic and is still stuck in the down position.
It’s been like that since Friday after the bridge got locked in the up position the day before.
“The bridge doesn’t always work,” Rio Vista resident Bud Kerner said.
“I'm just glad that it's stuck shut, but I'm not glad that the ships can't come down from Sacramento,” resident Gregory Mitchell said.
It’s a tough situation for boaters, but even worse for cargo ships, because the shipping lanes are temporarily blocked at the Port of West Sacramento, some 40 miles away from the Rio Vista Bridge.
“We're a little concerned right now,” said Oscar Villegas, chairman of the Port Commission.
Villegas said he’s concerned about the economic impact of ships that are unable to load or unload two key products: rice and cement.
“For cement, it's very critical because the port is the conduit for cement coming through for a lot of the construction that's occurring in the Northern California region,” Villegas said.
The business fallout from the broken bridge is also worrisome to the city of West Sacramento.
“This ship's been here for about a week,” said Rick Toft, port manager for the city.
Toft was referring to a large cargo ship inside the port with a crew on board from the Philippines.
“It completed its discharge (of concrete) last night, and it was scheduled to sail last night," Toft said. "So as of last night, it's officially delayed."
Just how long will the ship be delayed?
“As long as the Rio Vista Bridge is in the closed position,” Toft said.
Caltrans crews working on the bridge Tuesday identified the problem.
“The gear box, for lack of a better term, is broken,” Caltrans spokesperson Dennis Keaton said. “We've sent them back out to a contractor to hopefully get them repaired in the next 30 days, as far as the best estimate that we have."
For people connected to the port, 30 days is too long to wait.
“The likelihood of huge impacts occurring in the event we have to wait 30 days are very significant,” Villegas said. “It has the potential to have a trickle-down effect in the construction industry that we have not seen in quite some time.”
Port officials said two ships carrying concrete are now unable to enter the port, along with one that’s waiting to load up rice.
“Get the bridge repaired as soon as possible,” Toft said. “There will be pressure, yes.”
Caltrans is already feeling that pressure from the port and the Coast Guard. The agency is waiting eagerly for the parts to arrive to fix the bridge, which was built in 1944.
“We're trying to look at what we can do to see if the bridge can be lifted manually,” Keaton said.
Keaton said the Rio Vista Bridge was inspected in April and no mechanical defects were found.
By law, marine traffic has priority over cars and trucks. The Coast Guard said it’s working closely with the port and with Caltrans to get the Rio Vista Bridge back on track as fast as possible.